First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Short Interest Up 20.6% in February

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,040,000 shares, a growth of 20.6% from the February 13th total of 2,520,000 shares. Currently, 5.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 369,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.2 days.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $23.75 per share, for a total transaction of $43,652.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 437,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,390,173.75. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BUSE. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Huntington National Bank purchased a new position in First Busey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in First Busey by 161.1% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 822.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, First Busey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

First Busey Stock Performance

BUSE traded down $0.31 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 123,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 270,374. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $23.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.91. First Busey has a 52-week low of $21.21 and a 52-week high of $28.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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

First Busey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.52%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.