First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Hits New 1-Year Low at $18.75

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 23rd, 2023

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE – Get Rating)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $18.75 and last traded at $18.75, with a volume of 15811 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on BUSE. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of First Busey from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of First Busey from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on First Busey in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

First Busey Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $21.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 0.86.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 24th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $120.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.47 million. First Busey had a net margin of 26.36% and a return on equity of 11.39%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Busey Co. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 21st will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 20th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Van A. Dukeman purchased 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $22.86 per share, with a total value of $102,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 26,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $603,709.74. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Van A. Dukeman purchased 4,500 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $22.86 per share, with a total value of $102,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 26,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $603,709.74. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $21.59 per share, for a total transaction of $107,950.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 37,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $817,181.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 14,500 shares of company stock valued at $325,330 and sold 31,302 shares valued at $772,726. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BUSE. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 0.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 328,890 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,335,000 after buying an additional 2,067 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of First Busey by 4.4% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,021 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in First Busey during the 1st quarter worth approximately $176,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in First Busey by 49.7% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 27,656 shares of the bank’s stock worth $701,000 after acquiring an additional 9,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,684,215 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $68,019,000 after buying an additional 104,955 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.97% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Company Profile

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First Busey Corp. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services through its wholly-owned bank subsidiary. It operates through the following segments: Banking, First Tech, and Wealth Management. The Banking segment offers a range of services to individual and corporate customers through its banking center network.