First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Sees Large Volume Increase

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 215,111 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 6% from the previous session’s volume of 203,685 shares.The stock last traded at $27.26 and had previously closed at $27.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BUSE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. DA Davidson upped their price target on First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Busey from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, First Busey currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.60.

First Busey Stock Down 1.4 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $25.96 and its 200 day moving average is $24.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 0.84.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 17.18%. The firm had revenue of $116.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.65 million. Analysts forecast that First Busey Co. will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Busey news, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $143,358.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,107,088.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $389,328.06. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 386,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,092,960.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $143,358.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 89,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,107,088.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 264 shares of company stock worth $5,319 and sold 22,790 shares worth $536,477. 7.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey in the second quarter worth $34,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 257.4% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,998 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Busey during the first quarter valued at approximately $115,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in First Busey in the first quarter worth $142,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management increased its holdings in First Busey by 27.3% in the 1st quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 8,606 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 1,848 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

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.