First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $28.60.

Several research firms have recently commented on BUSE. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com raised First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $389,328.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,092,960.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other First Busey news, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $389,328.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,092,960.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $143,358.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 89,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,107,088.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 264 shares of company stock worth $5,319 and sold 22,790 shares worth $536,477. 7.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in First Busey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $352,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 397.0% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,660 shares of the bank’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 8,515 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 30,171 shares of the bank’s stock worth $730,000 after buying an additional 2,579 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,148 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,739,000 after buying an additional 19,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 58.7% during the 2nd quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 55,400 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,341,000 after buying an additional 20,500 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Busey Stock Performance

BUSE opened at $26.92 on Friday. First Busey has a 52-week low of $17.51 and a 52-week high of $28.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.84. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.27.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $116.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.65 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 17.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Busey will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. First Busey’s payout ratio is 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.