First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Shares Gap Down to $23.27

Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $23.27, but opened at $21.94. First Busey shares last traded at $22.93, with a volume of 36,003 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Busey from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.75.

First Busey Price Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.61.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $108.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.74 million. First Busey had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 10.38%. Sell-side analysts expect that First Busey Co. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.18%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.36, for a total value of $51,428.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 139,804 shares in the company, valued at $3,126,017.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other First Busey news, Director Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.36, for a total transaction of $51,428.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 139,804 shares in the company, valued at $3,126,017.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $22.98 per share, with a total value of $45,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 47,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,093,503.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 4,917 shares of company stock worth $117,215 and sold 6,900 shares worth $157,182. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BUSE. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Busey during the third quarter worth approximately $369,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 4.1% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 32,280 shares of the bank’s stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 1.3% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 385,328 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,406,000 after acquiring an additional 5,025 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First Busey during the third quarter worth approximately $218,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 40.6% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,819 shares of the bank’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 4,566 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.