Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 1,413 Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 322,813 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,413 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in First Busey were worth $7,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,497,004 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,952,000 after acquiring an additional 6,367 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in First Busey by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,295,804 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,723,000 after purchasing an additional 22,096 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in First Busey by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 707,323 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,672,000 after purchasing an additional 12,879 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in First Busey by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,287 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,549,000 after purchasing an additional 39,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in First Busey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,498,000. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Busey Stock Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ BUSE opened at $22.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 0.84. First Busey Co. has a 1 year low of $21.20 and a 1 year high of $28.97. The business’s 50-day moving average is $23.50 and its 200 day moving average is $25.01.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given 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 4.53%. This is an increase from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.76%.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In related news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.70 per share, with a total value of $36,890.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 482,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,462,503.10. This trade represents a 0.35 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 7.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

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.