Victory Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 321,400 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 15,613 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.57% of First Busey worth $8,363,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in First Busey in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of First Busey in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 257.4% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,998 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 1st quarter worth about $115,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in First Busey in the 1st quarter valued at about $142,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $26.85 on Friday. First Busey Co. has a 52 week low of $20.67 and a 52 week high of $28.97. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84 and a beta of 0.84.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $170.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.32 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First Busey Co. will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BUSE. DA Davidson lifted 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. Stephens lowered First Busey from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $28.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com upgraded First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Busey has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.80.

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.