Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. Decreases Holdings in First Busey Corporation $BUSE

Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. cut its holdings in shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 24.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 312,764 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 102,236 shares during the quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. owned 0.35% of First Busey worth $7,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 127.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,583 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Busey during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 726.1% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,280 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 2,004 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of First Busey during the third quarter worth approximately $86,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 111.9% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,920 shares of the bank’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 2,070 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Scott A. Phillips purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.90 per share, for a total transaction of $129,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $216,265. The trade was a 149.25% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on BUSE. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of First Busey from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of First Busey from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of First Busey from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Busey presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.50.

First Busey Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $27.08 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.04 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.07. First Busey Corporation has a twelve month low of $21.41 and a twelve month high of $27.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $197.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.15 million. First Busey had a net margin of 19.16% and a return on equity of 10.19%. As a group, research analysts predict that First Busey Corporation will post 2.57 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 24th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 24th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. First Busey’s payout ratio is 46.22%.

About First Busey

First Busey (NASDAQ: BUSE) is a bank holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois, with roots tracing back to the founding of Busey Bank in 1868. As a regional financial institution, it offers a broad spectrum of banking services to individuals, small businesses, and corporations. Its core activities include commercial lending, deposit-taking, and cash management, which are tailored to meet the needs of local communities across its operating footprint.

In addition to traditional banking operations, First Busey provides wealth management and trust services through its subsidiary aimed at high-net-worth clients and fiduciary accounts.