First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Analysts

First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.00.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BUSE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler cut First Busey from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. DA Davidson increased their target price on First Busey from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Busey in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on First Busey from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total value of $43,878.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 130,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,958,865.40. The trade was a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Busey by 5.6% during the third quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 44,024 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,282,000 after purchasing an additional 2,335 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 161.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 31,556 shares of the bank’s stock worth $931,000 after buying an additional 19,473 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the 2nd quarter worth about $242,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in shares of First Busey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $503,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Busey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Price Performance

BUSE opened at $28.93 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $30.28 and a 200-day moving average of $28.55. The company has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.75. First Busey has a 1-year low of $22.00 and a 1-year high of $31.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.06. First Busey had a net margin of 21.00% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The business had revenue of $194.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.59 million. Equities analysts expect that First Busey will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 24th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 24th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.98%.

About First Busey

First Busey Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. Its principal subsidiary, Busey Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses, institutions and municipalities.

Busey Bank offers consumer and commercial deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, business loans, treasury management, trust services and other financial solutions. Through Busey Wealth Management, the company also provides investment management, financial planning, private banking and fiduciary services.