KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Boosts Stake in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its holdings in shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 106.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,506 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 11,106 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in First Busey were worth $465,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,069 shares of the bank’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 7,396 shares of the bank’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,293 shares of the bank’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 161.1% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BUSE shares. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on First Busey from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.17.

First Busey Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ BUSE opened at $22.62 on Thursday. First Busey Corporation has a 1-year low of $18.40 and a 1-year high of $28.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.09 and a 200-day moving average of $22.59. The firm has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20 and a beta of 0.77.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 9.48%. The company had revenue of $192.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.91 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. First Busey’s payout ratio is 89.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Busey news, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.70 per share, with a total value of $119,350.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 72,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,563,875.60. This trade represents a 8.26% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Steven W. Caple purchased 1,175 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.60 per share, with a total value of $25,380.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,509 shares in the company, valued at $97,394.40. The trade was a 35.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 15,625 shares of company stock valued at $344,273 in the last ninety days. 3.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About First Busey

First Busey Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Busey Bank that engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking products and services to individual, corporate, institutional, and governmental customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Banking, Wealth Management, and FirsTech.