First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Downgraded by Stephens to Equal Weight

by · The Markets Daily

Stephens lowered shares of First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE – Free Report) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $27.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $28.00.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. DA Davidson increased their price objective on First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. 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, StockNews.com raised First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.80.

Read Our Latest Report on First Busey

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of BUSE stock opened at $26.25 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. First Busey has a 12 month low of $17.51 and a 12 month high of $28.97. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $25.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 0.84.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The company had revenue of $116.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.65 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Busey will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. First Busey’s payout ratio is currently 48.48%.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 22.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,159,907 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,895,000 after buying an additional 212,782 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in First Busey by 20.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 947,406 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,937,000 after purchasing an additional 163,042 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 28.9% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 386,231 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,351,000 after purchasing an additional 86,492 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in First Busey by 5.7% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,359,080 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,686,000 after buying an additional 72,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in First Busey by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,552,667 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,537,000 after purchasing an additional 57,392 shares during the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About First Busey

(Get Free Report)

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.

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