First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Stock Position Cut by Cozad Asset Management Inc.

Cozad Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 4.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 359,497 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 15,664 shares during the period. First Busey makes up about 0.9% of Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in First Busey were worth $9,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BUSE. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Busey during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey in the third quarter valued at $43,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in First Busey by 257.4% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,998 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,439 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in First Busey during the first quarter valued at about $115,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in First Busey in the first quarter worth about $142,000. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Busey Price Performance

BUSE opened at $27.29 on Thursday. First Busey Co. has a 1 year low of $19.61 and a 1 year high of $28.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $25.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07 and a beta of 0.84.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $170.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.32 million. First Busey had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 9.12%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that First Busey Co. will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is 49.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Stephens lowered shares of First Busey from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Busey currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.80.

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.