R Squared Ltd Takes $35,000 Position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,470 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank bought a new stake in First Busey in the third quarter worth $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in First Busey in the third quarter worth $43,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in First Busey in the third quarter worth $171,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in First Busey in the third quarter worth $224,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in First Busey by 397.0% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,660 shares of the bank’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 8,515 shares during the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of First Busey stock opened at $23.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.06 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $21.59 and a 12 month high of $28.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $24.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.46.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that First Busey Co. will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.21%. This is a positive change from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BUSE shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on First Busey from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.75.

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.