Piper Sandler Cuts First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Price Target to $28.00

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) had its price target trimmed by Piper Sandler from $32.00 to $28.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the bank's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BUSE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.75.

First Busey Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $23.83. The company had a trading volume of 138,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 343,794. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. First Busey has a 12 month low of $21.59 and a 12 month high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, analysts predict that First Busey will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from First Busey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. First Busey's payout ratio is currently 50.76%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in First Busey in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Huntington National Bank bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in First Busey during the third quarter worth about $171,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

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.