Semanteon Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Semanteon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 17,709 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 45,324 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,068,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 162.8% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,635 shares of the bank's stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 14,022 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of First Busey by 193.7% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 85,027 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,004,000 after purchasing an additional 56,073 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,799 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,635,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in First Busey by 442.2% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 72,438 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,707,000 after buying an additional 59,077 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw acquired 1,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 482,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,462,503.10. This represents a 0.35 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 7.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on BUSE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and set a $33.00 target price (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Busey presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.00.

First Busey Price Performance

BUSE stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.16. The company had a trading volume of 307,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 279,097. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.71. 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 capitalization of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 0.84. First Busey Co. has a 1 year low of $21.21 and a 1 year high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last released its 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, research analysts anticipate that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.51%. This is a positive change from First Busey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Busey's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.76%.

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.