BNP Paribas Financial Markets Purchases 13,654 Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 127.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,330 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,654 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in First Busey were worth $633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BUSE. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in First Busey by 20.8% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 168.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 149,279 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,884,000 after purchasing an additional 93,733 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 28.9% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 386,231 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,351,000 after purchasing an additional 86,492 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of First Busey by 211.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 100,952 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,627,000 after purchasing an additional 68,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 3rd quarter worth about $540,000. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BUSE. StockNews.com raised shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens lowered First Busey from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th.

First Busey Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of First Busey stock opened at $26.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. First Busey Co. has a 52-week low of $21.68 and a 52-week high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The business had revenue of $170.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. First Busey’s payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

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.