StockNews.com Lowers First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Monday.

First Busey Price Performance

BUSE opened at $23.12 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $23.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.64. First Busey has a 1 year low of $16.26 and a 1 year high of $25.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 10.65 and a beta of 0.85.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. First Busey had a return on equity of 10.38% and a net margin of 20.37%. The company had revenue of $108.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.74 million. Research analysts anticipate that First Busey will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Busey news, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $24.40 per share, with a total value of $61,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 45,585 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,274. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other First Busey news, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $24.40 per share, with a total value of $61,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 45,585 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,274. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.98 per share, with a total value of $45,960.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 47,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,503.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 4,917 shares of company stock valued at $117,215 and sold 6,900 shares valued at $157,182. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 1,143.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey during the third quarter worth about $218,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey during the fourth quarter worth about $238,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey during the fourth quarter worth about $249,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in First Busey by 40.6% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 4,566 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Company 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.