First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Short Interest Update

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 949,000 shares, a growth of 7.9% from the February 29th total of 879,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 151,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.3 days. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Karen M. Jensen acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $22.98 per share, with a total value of $45,960.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 47,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,503.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.96, for a total transaction of $52,808.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,978 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,190,934.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 2,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $22.98 per share, for a total transaction of $45,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 47,585 shares in the company, valued at $1,093,503.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 4,917 shares of company stock valued at $117,215 and have sold 6,900 shares valued at $159,091. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 1,143.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the period. Studio Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Busey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 237.9% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,409 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 992 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of First Busey in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Busey in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Trading Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ BUSE opened at $23.48 on Tuesday. First Busey has a fifty-two week low of $16.26 and a fifty-two week high of $25.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 0.85.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. First Busey had a return on equity of 10.38% and a net margin of 20.37%. The business had revenue of $108.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $107.74 million. On average, analysts forecast that First Busey will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 19th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 18th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on BUSE. Raymond James raised their price target on First Busey from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Busey has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.50.

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.