Bayview Asset Management LLC Boosts Holdings in First Busey Corporation $BUSE

Bayview Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 173.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,385 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,876 shares during the quarter. First Busey makes up about 0.6% of Bayview Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Bayview Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of First Busey worth $1,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey in the second quarter valued at about $229,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in First Busey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,343,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $329,000. Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey during the second quarter worth about $888,000. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in First Busey by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 8,745 shares of the bank’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other news, CAO Scott A. Phillips purchased 1,350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.64 per share, for a total transaction of $34,614.00. Following the acquisition, the chief accounting officer owned 2,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,254. The trade was a 135.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $24.60 per share, with a total value of $73,800.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 86,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,135,230.80. The trade was a 3.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 3.85% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Price Performance

BUSE opened at $23.55 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 20.47 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.28. First Busey Corporation has a 1 year low of $18.40 and a 1 year high of $27.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 20th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 11.00%.The business had revenue of $63.34 million during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 24th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 24th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. First Busey’s payout ratio is presently 86.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BUSE. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target (down previously from $28.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on First Busey from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, November 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.33.

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.