Analysts Set First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Target Price at $28.60

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $28.60.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of First Busey stock opened at $26.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 0.84. First Busey has a one year low of $17.51 and a one year high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $116.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.65 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 17.18%. Analysts forecast that First Busey will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

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 stock was 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 owns 386,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,092,960.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 stock was 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 owns 386,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,092,960.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $143,358.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 89,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,107,088.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 264 shares of company stock worth $5,319 and sold 22,790 shares worth $536,477. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in First Busey during the 2nd quarter valued at $352,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in First Busey by 397.0% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,660 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 8,515 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in First Busey by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 30,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $730,000 after purchasing an additional 2,579 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in First Busey by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,148 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,739,000 after purchasing an additional 19,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC raised its position in First Busey by 58.7% during the 2nd quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 55,400 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 20,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

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.