First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the four analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.75.

BUSE has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other news, Director Karen M. Jensen acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $22.98 per share, with a total value of $45,960.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 47,585 shares in the company, valued at $1,093,503.30. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.96, for a total transaction of $52,808.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,190,934.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen acquired 2,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were acquired 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 approximately $1,093,503.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders bought 4,348 shares of company stock valued at $93,953 and sold 6,900 shares valued at $157,182. 7.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in First Busey by 1,143.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in First Busey in the third quarter worth approximately $218,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in First Busey in the fourth quarter worth approximately $238,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in First Busey in the fourth quarter worth approximately $249,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 4,566 shares during the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Busey Stock Performance

NASDAQ BUSE opened at $22.34 on Friday. First Busey has a 1-year low of $16.26 and a 1-year high of $25.80. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 18th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.48%.

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.