Quantbot Technologies LP Buys 14,498 Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 114.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,185 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 14,498 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in First Busey were worth $641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Peregrine Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in First Busey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,498,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 168.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 149,279 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,884,000 after acquiring an additional 93,733 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 81.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,069 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,516,000 after acquiring an additional 60,506 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 442.2% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 72,438 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 59,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 193.7% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 85,027 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,004,000 after purchasing an additional 56,073 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw purchased 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 approximately $10,462,503.10. The trade was a 0.35 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

First Busey Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of First Busey stock opened at $22.39 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.68. First Busey Co. has a 12-month low of $21.21 and a 12-month high of $28.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 0.84.

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

First Busey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. First Busey’s payout ratio is currently 50.76%.

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.