First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Now Covered by StockNews.com

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 6th, 2023

Research analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE – Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the bank’s stock.

Separately, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of First Busey from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 31st.

Get Our Latest Report on BUSE

First Busey Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of First Busey stock opened at $19.36 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.00 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $20.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.95. First Busey has a 52-week low of $16.26 and a 52-week high of $27.98.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.04). First Busey had a net margin of 24.80% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The business had revenue of $106.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.96 million. Equities research analysts forecast that First Busey will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael David Cassens sold 10,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.00, for a total value of $220,792.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 157,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,470,434. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other First Busey news, Director Michael David Cassens sold 10,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.00, for a total transaction of $220,792.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 157,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,470,434. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 2,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Monday, August 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $21.20 per share, for a total transaction of $42,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 62,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,314,400. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 23,850 shares of company stock valued at $504,856. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in First Busey by 102,760.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 32,102,710 shares of the bank’s stock worth $793,579,000 after acquiring an additional 32,071,500 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in First Busey by 6.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,491,872 shares of the bank’s stock worth $90,287,000 after buying an additional 279,222 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in First Busey by 0.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,223,707 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,797,000 after purchasing an additional 20,088 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in First Busey by 13.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,818,626 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,084,000 after purchasing an additional 220,093 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in First Busey by 48.6% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,525,185 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,656,000 after purchasing an additional 498,963 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.22% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

First Busey Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Busey Bank that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individual, corporate, institutional, and governmental customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Banking, FirsTech, and Wealth Management.