First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $28.60 and last traded at $28.33, with a volume of 772849 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $28.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BUSE shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on First Busey from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Stephens increased their price target on First Busey from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded First Busey from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Busey has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

First Busey Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.58.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $197.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.15 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 10.19% and a net margin of 19.16%. On average, equities analysts forecast that First Busey Corporation will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 24th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 24th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is 46.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In related news, CAO Scott A. Phillips purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.90 per share, with a total value of $129,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,350 shares in the company, valued at $216,265. This trade represents a 149.25% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BUSE. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 95.9% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,143 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 8,884 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 198,945 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,297,000 after purchasing an additional 28,605 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 64.1% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 49,724 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 19,431 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 469,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,137,000 after purchasing an additional 38,773 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 78.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 222,048 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,796,000 after purchasing an additional 97,560 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Company Profile

First Busey (NASDAQ: BUSE) is a bank holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois, with roots tracing back to the founding of Busey Bank in 1868. As a regional financial institution, it offers a broad spectrum of banking services to individuals, small businesses, and corporations. Its core activities include commercial lending, deposit-taking, and cash management, which are tailored to meet the needs of local communities across its operating footprint.

In addition to traditional banking operations, First Busey provides wealth management and trust services through its subsidiary aimed at high-net-worth clients and fiduciary accounts.