First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on BUSE. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of First Busey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Busey in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of First Busey from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $35.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.00.

First Busey Stock Performance

BUSE opened at $29.24 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $29.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.93. The stock has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 0.75. First Busey has a 1 year low of $22.12 and a 1 year high of $31.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.04). First Busey had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 21.13%. The firm had revenue of $194.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.77 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Busey will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 23rd were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 23rd. First Busey’s payout ratio is 42.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.12, for a total value of $41,961.92. Following the transaction, the director owned 128,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,743,987.52. This represents a 1.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,323 shares of company stock worth $130,627. Corporate insiders own 3.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in First Busey in the third quarter valued at approximately $268,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 31.1% during the third quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 67,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,966,000 after buying an additional 16,000 shares during the period. Wavvest Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in First Busey during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $661,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 127.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,424 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 2,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Busey in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $922,000. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Busey Company Profile

First Busey Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. Through its banking and wealth management businesses, the company serves individuals, families, businesses and institutions with a range of financial products and services.

Its principal banking subsidiary, Busey Bank, provides consumer and commercial checking and savings accounts, loans, mortgages, treasury management and other deposit and lending services. First Busey also offers investment management, trust, retirement planning, financial planning and brokerage services through its wealth management operations.

First Busey traces its banking roots to 1868 and primarily serves customers in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Florida, with additional markets following its combination with CrossFirst Bankshares.