First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Stake Cut by Janus Henderson Group PLC

Janus Henderson Group PLC cut its holdings in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 29.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 862,502 shares of the bank's stock after selling 352,758 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 1.52% of First Busey worth $22,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in First Busey in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Huntington National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of First Busey during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 257.4% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,998 shares of the bank's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in First Busey during the second quarter worth about $216,000. 56.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Busey Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:BUSE traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $26.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 185,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 234,972. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 0.86. First Busey Co. has a twelve month low of $21.68 and a twelve month high of $28.97. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $25.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.31.

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

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. First Busey's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BUSE. DA Davidson increased their target price on First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com upgraded First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of First Busey from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $28.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, First Busey presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.25.

First Busey 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.