First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.80.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BUSE shares. Stephens cut shares of First Busey from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com upgraded First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th.

First Busey Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of BUSE stock opened at $26.43 on Monday. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $25.62 and a 200 day moving average of $24.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 0.84. First Busey has a 1-year low of $19.61 and a 1-year high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04. First Busey had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 9.12%. The firm had revenue of $170.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Busey will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. First Busey’s payout ratio is 49.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BUSE. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in First Busey by 40.1% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,069 shares of the bank’s stock worth $819,000 after acquiring an additional 9,755 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Busey during the first quarter valued at approximately $142,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 93,317 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,244,000 after purchasing an additional 10,626 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 17,013 shares of the bank’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 2,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in First Busey during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $115,000. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.