First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Stanley J. Bradshaw Buys 1,700 Shares

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.70 per share, with a total value of $36,890.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 482,143 shares in the company, valued at $10,462,503.10. This represents a 0.35 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

First Busey Price Performance

NASDAQ BUSE opened at $22.08 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 0.84. First Busey Co. has a 52-week low of $21.20 and a 52-week high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. Equities research analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BUSE. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Busey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Huntington National Bank acquired a new position in First Busey during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 5.4% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 191,934 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,994,000 after acquiring an additional 9,782 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 145.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,954 shares of the bank’s stock worth $754,000 after acquiring an additional 17,155 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey in the third quarter worth $348,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey in the third quarter worth $224,000. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Company 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.