First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Receives “Overweight” Rating from Stephens

Stephens restated their overweight rating on shares of First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $28.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Busey from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $25.75.

First Busey Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of First Busey stock opened at $22.80 on Wednesday. First Busey has a 52-week low of $16.26 and a 52-week high of $25.80. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.05 and a 200 day moving average of $22.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 0.85.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.21%. First Busey’s payout ratio is currently 48.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Karen M. Jensen acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.40 per share, with a total value of $61,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 45,585 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,274. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Karen M. Jensen acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.40 per share, with a total value of $61,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 45,585 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,274. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $22.98 per share, for a total transaction of $45,960.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 47,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,503.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 4,817 shares of company stock valued at $114,780 and have sold 6,900 shares valued at $157,182. 7.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BUSE. Plancorp LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 742.9% in the 3rd quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 1,320,225 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163,596 shares during the period. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Busey in the 4th quarter valued at $11,053,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 565.7% in the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 402,097 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,980,000 after acquiring an additional 341,692 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 523,703 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,066,000 after acquiring an additional 66,588 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,552,667 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,537,000 after acquiring an additional 57,392 shares during the period. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.