EP Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in First Busey Corporation $BUSE

EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 11,375 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BUSE. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in First Busey by 56.4% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,251 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in First Busey by 23.7% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in First Busey by 59.3% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,881 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV bought a new position in First Busey in the first quarter worth approximately $80,000. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In other news, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $23.25 per share, for a total transaction of $58,125.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 83,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,942,956. This represents a 3.08% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott A. Phillips acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.25 per share, for a total transaction of $25,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,250. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 price target (up previously from $27.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Wall Street Zen raised First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.33.

First Busey Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $24.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05 and a beta of 0.82. First Busey Corporation has a 12-month low of $18.40 and a 12-month 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 0.11.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $192.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.91 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 9.48%. Equities research analysts forecast that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. First Busey’s payout ratio is presently 89.29%.

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.