First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE – Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 974,000 shares, a decrease of 13.8% from the August 31st total of 1,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 302,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
BUSE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.60.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other First Busey news, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $143,358.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,107,088.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $389,328.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,092,960.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $143,358.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,107,088.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,790 shares of company stock worth $536,477. Insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey
A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of First Busey by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,552,667 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,537,000 after acquiring an additional 57,392 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in First Busey by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,359,080 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,686,000 after purchasing an additional 72,800 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 22.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,159,907 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,895,000 after buying an additional 212,782 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 20.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 947,406 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,937,000 after buying an additional 163,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of First Busey by 1.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 411,749 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,968,000 after acquiring an additional 6,658 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
First Busey Trading Down 0.5 %
Shares of NASDAQ BUSE traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $25.62. The stock had a trading volume of 226,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 213,324. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.35. First Busey has a 1 year low of $17.51 and a 1 year high of $28.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 0.84.
First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $116.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.65 million. First Busey had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 9.10%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First Busey will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.
First Busey Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.48%.
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.