Piper Sandler Cuts First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Price Target to $28.00

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) had its price target decreased by Piper Sandler from $32.00 to $28.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.75.

First Busey Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ BUSE opened at $24.28 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.50. 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. The stock has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 0.88.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Busey will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. First Busey’s payout ratio is presently 50.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Huntington National Bank bought a new stake in shares of First Busey in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in First Busey during the third quarter valued at about $171,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey in the third quarter worth $224,000. 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.