Quarry LP Raises Stock Position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 507.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,786 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,492 shares during the quarter. Quarry LP’s holdings in First Busey were worth $42,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BUSE. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in First Busey by 1,173.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in First Busey during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in First Busey by 161.1% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in First Busey by 822.7% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in First Busey by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 7,396 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded First Busey from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw acquired 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.70 per share, for a total transaction of $36,890.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 482,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,462,503.10. This trade represents a 0.35 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $21.69 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $21.32 and its 200 day moving average is $23.65. The stock has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 0.75. First Busey Co. has a 52-week low of $18.40 and a 52-week high of $28.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%. The firm had revenue of $140.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.15 million. Sell-side analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.61%. First Busey’s payout ratio is presently 93.46%.

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.