First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,380,000 shares, a decline of 54.6% from the February 28th total of 3,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 410,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw purchased 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.70 per share, with a total value of $36,890.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 482,143 shares in the company, valued at $10,462,503.10. This represents a 0.35 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 1,173.5% during the 4th 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 shares of First Busey during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 161.1% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in First Busey by 822.7% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 507.5% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,786 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,492 shares during the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. 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 decreased their price target on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.00.

First Busey Stock Down 3.1 %

BUSE stock traded down $0.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.69. 421,531 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 294,276. The stock has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 0.84. First Busey has a 1 year low of $21.21 and a 1 year high of $28.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $23.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.65.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Busey will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. First Busey’s payout ratio is currently 50.76%.

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.