First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Reaches New 1-Year Low - Here's Why

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $18.40 and last traded at $19.21, with a volume of 424635 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on shares of First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.80.

First Busey Stock Down 0.7 %

The firm's 50-day moving average is $22.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.13. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 0.75. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts anticipate that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.15%. First Busey's payout ratio is 50.76%.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $21.70 per share, for a total transaction of $36,890.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 482,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,462,503.10. This trade represents a 0.35 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 7.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new position in First Busey in the 3rd quarter valued at about $757,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in First Busey by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,799 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in First Busey by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,287 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,549,000 after purchasing an additional 39,900 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 168.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 149,279 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,884,000 after purchasing an additional 93,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Busey by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,295,804 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,723,000 after buying an additional 22,096 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.