First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.04 EPS

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04, Yahoo Finance reports. The company had revenue of $170.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.32 million. First Busey had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 9.10%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share.

First Busey Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE traded down $0.14 during trading on Thursday, hitting $24.55. 372,660 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 222,743. First Busey has a fifty-two week low of $17.51 and a fifty-two week high of $28.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $25.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.59.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.91%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is 48.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BUSE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stephens cut First Busey from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.80.

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.