StockNews.com Downgrades First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) to Sell

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

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

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of BUSE opened at $26.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 13.13 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.03. First Busey has a 52-week low of $17.51 and a 52-week high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The business had revenue of $116.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.65 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Busey will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.48%.

Insider Activity

In other First Busey news, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $389,328.06. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,092,960.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $143,358.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,107,088.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were 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 owns 386,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,092,960.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 264 shares of company stock worth $5,319 and have sold 22,790 shares worth $536,477. 7.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BUSE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in First Busey by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 636,619 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,801,000 after purchasing an additional 31,442 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in First Busey by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 24,314 shares of the bank’s stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 2,104 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in First Busey by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,278,444 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $81,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,224 shares in the last quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 3,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Busey during the 4th quarter worth $238,000. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.