First Busey’s (BUSE) Equal Weight Rating Reaffirmed at Stephens

Stephens restated their equal weight rating on shares of First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $26.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

BUSE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of First Busey from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

First Busey Price Performance

First Busey stock opened at $23.59 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. First Busey has a 12-month low of $21.59 and a 12-month high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Busey will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Busey’s payout ratio is presently 50.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BUSE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,500,343 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $82,503,000 after purchasing an additional 110,895 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,497,004 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,952,000 after purchasing an additional 6,367 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in First Busey by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,295,804 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,723,000 after acquiring an additional 22,096 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in First Busey by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,122,896 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,467,000 after acquiring an additional 58,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in First Busey by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 707,323 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,672,000 after purchasing an additional 12,879 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

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.