First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE – Get Rating) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 902,600 shares, an increase of 15.4% from the August 31st total of 782,000 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 136,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.6 days.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Busey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 1st. B. Riley decreased their target price on shares of First Busey from $27.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Monday, July 11th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of First Busey in a research note on Wednesday, July 27th.
First Busey Stock Performance
NASDAQ:BUSE traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $21.98. The stock had a trading volume of 149,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 129,104. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 0.91. First Busey has a twelve month low of $21.66 and a twelve month high of $29.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.72.
First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 26th. The bank reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $106.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $108.67 million. First Busey had a net margin of 25.44% and a return on equity of 10.04%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. On average, analysts expect that First Busey will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
First Busey Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 29th. Investors of record on Friday, July 22nd were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 21st. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. First Busey’s payout ratio is currently 45.32%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other First Busey news, Director Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.30, for a total transaction of $53,590.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 180,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,207,723.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Busey Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $149,174,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,684,215 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $68,019,000 after acquiring an additional 104,955 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,818,626 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,084,000 after acquiring an additional 220,093 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,232,062 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,980,000 after acquiring an additional 92,090 shares during the period. Finally, Private Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Private Capital Management LLC now owns 617,195 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,103,000 after acquiring an additional 36,202 shares during the period. 63.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About First Busey
First Busey Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Busey Bank that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individual, corporate, institutional, and governmental customers in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Banking, FirsTech, and Wealth Management.