First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com cut shares of First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $28.60.

First Busey Stock Performance

BUSE stock opened at $26.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 13.52 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.99. First Busey has a 1-year low of $17.51 and a 1-year high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 17.18%. The firm had revenue of $116.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.65 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Busey will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction of $143,358.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,107,088.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $143,358.60. Following 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 264 shares of company stock valued at $5,319 and have sold 22,790 shares valued at $536,477. Insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in First Busey by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 636,619 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,801,000 after acquiring an additional 31,442 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in First Busey by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 24,314 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in First Busey by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,278,444 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,372,000 after buying an additional 55,224 shares during the last quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC increased its position in First Busey by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 51,615 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,281,000 after buying an additional 3,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Busey in the fourth quarter valued at $238,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

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.