First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Sets New 52-Week Low - Should You Sell?

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $21.59 and last traded at $21.95, with a volume of 15563 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $21.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BUSE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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 downgraded First Busey from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $28.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th.

First Busey Price Performance

The company's 50-day simple moving average is $25.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 0.88.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $170.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.32 million. First Busey had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that First Busey Co. will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of First Busey by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,427 shares of the bank's stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in First Busey by 1.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 87,257 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in First Busey by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 15,889 shares of the bank's stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in First Busey by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 121,310 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of First Busey by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,866 shares of the bank's stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.