Franklin Resources Inc. Has $1.04 Million Holdings in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,550 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 15,829 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of First Busey worth $1,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BUSE. Huntington National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in First Busey during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 257.4% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,998 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey in the third quarter worth $171,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in First Busey during the third quarter valued at $224,000. 56.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Busey Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $23.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $25.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.56. 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. First Busey had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The business had revenue of $170.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that First Busey Co. will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders 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 4.05%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of First Busey from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $28.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th.

First Busey Profile

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.