First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Stephens restated an overweight rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $28.60.

First Busey Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $26.00 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50-day moving average is $26.00 and its 200 day moving average is $24.03. First Busey has a 1 year low of $17.51 and a 1 year high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $116.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.65 million. First Busey had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 9.10%. On average, research analysts predict that First Busey will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In other First Busey news, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $389,328.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 386,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,092,960.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other First Busey news, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $389,328.06. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 386,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,092,960.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $143,358.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 three months, insiders have acquired 264 shares of company stock valued at $5,319 and have sold 22,790 shares valued at $536,477. 7.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 87,257 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in First Busey in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in First Busey by 257.4% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,998 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of First Busey by 10.0% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,866 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 1,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 8,606 shares of the bank’s stock worth $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.

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.