Centiva Capital LP Invests $347,000 in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Centiva Capital LP acquired a new stake in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 13,330 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $347,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BUSE. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in First Busey by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 947,406 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,937,000 after purchasing an additional 163,042 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 168.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 149,279 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,884,000 after buying an additional 93,733 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in First Busey by 28.9% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 386,231 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,351,000 after buying an additional 86,492 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in First Busey by 211.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 100,952 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,627,000 after acquiring an additional 68,585 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in First Busey in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $540,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $26.61 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.72 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company’s fifty day moving average is $25.83 and its 200-day moving average is $25.34. First Busey Co. has a 52 week low of $21.68 and a 52 week high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04. First Busey had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The firm had revenue of $170.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is 49.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson raised their target price on First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Stephens cut shares of First Busey from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $28.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.25.

First Busey 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.