First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Price Target Lowered to $27.00 at Raymond James

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) had its target price reduced by Raymond James from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on BUSE. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, February 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.80.

First Busey Stock Performance

BUSE opened at $19.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s fifty day moving average is $23.15 and its 200-day moving average is $24.47. First Busey has a 52-week low of $18.59 and a 52-week high of $28.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 expect that First Busey will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Busey’s payout ratio is presently 50.76%.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In other news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw purchased 1,838 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $23.75 per share, for a total transaction of $43,652.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 437,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,390,173.75. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in First Busey by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,500,343 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $82,503,000 after acquiring an additional 110,895 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 worth $38,952,000 after purchasing an additional 6,367 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in First Busey by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,122,896 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,467,000 after purchasing an additional 58,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in First Busey by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 707,323 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,672,000 after buying an additional 12,879 shares during the period. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.