First Busey Co. (BUSE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.24 on July 26th

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 9th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share by the bank on Friday, July 26th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th.

First Busey has raised its dividend by an average of 2.9% annually over the last three years. First Busey has a payout ratio of 41.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect First Busey to earn $2.33 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.2%.

First Busey Trading Up 4.2 %

NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $27.31 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.31. First Busey has a one year low of $17.51 and a one year high of $27.45. The firm has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 0.86.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.02). First Busey had a return on equity of 9.37% and a net margin of 18.08%. The company had revenue of $110.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.06 million. Equities analysts anticipate that First Busey will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Busey has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In other news, Director Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.81, for a total transaction of $54,763.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 137,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,278,517.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other First Busey news, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $389,328.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,092,960.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.81, for a total transaction of $54,763.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 137,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,278,517.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 365 shares of company stock worth $7,725 and have sold 25,090 shares worth $591,240. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About First Busey

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.