Karen M. Jensen Buys 5,500 Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Stock

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Karen M. Jensen bought 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.70 per share, for a total transaction of $119,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 72,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,563,875.60. This represents a 8.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

First Busey Price Performance

NASDAQ BUSE opened at $22.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.29 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $21.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.25. First Busey Co. has a 12-month low of $18.40 and a 12-month high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $140.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.15 million. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.46%.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of First Busey by 50.3% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 127,748 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,759,000 after purchasing an additional 42,751 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the first quarter valued at approximately $460,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of First Busey by 726.1% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,280 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 2,004 shares during the period. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the first quarter valued at approximately $7,737,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of First Busey by 1,659.8% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 172,810 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,733,000 after purchasing an additional 162,990 shares during the period. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BUSE. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Busey presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.80.

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.