First Busey Corporation $BUSE Stock Holdings Decreased by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC lessened its position in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 293,514 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 16,026 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in First Busey were worth $6,717,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in First Busey by 56.4% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,251 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 726.1% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,280 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 2,004 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in First Busey by 34.3% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,389 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 865 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in First Busey by 103.8% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,322 shares of the bank’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 2,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC acquired a new stake in First Busey during the 2nd quarter worth about $237,000. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BUSE shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price (down previously from $28.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.33.

First Busey Stock Down 0.4%

First Busey stock opened at $22.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. First Busey Corporation has a 1-year low of $18.40 and a 1-year high of $28.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.20. The company has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50 and a beta of 0.83.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 20th. The bank reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter. First Busey had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 9.56%. The firm had revenue of $63.34 million for the quarter. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 24th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 24th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.96%.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In related news, CAO Scott A. Phillips bought 1,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.64 per share, with a total value of $34,614.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,254. This trade represents a 135.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.60 per share, for a total transaction of $73,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 86,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,135,230.80. The trade was a 3.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.