First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Earns "Equal Weight" Rating from Stephens

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating restated by stock analysts at Stephens in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $26.00 target price on the bank's stock. Stephens' price objective suggests a potential upside of 8.38% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on BUSE. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of First Busey from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Busey presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.00.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $23.99. The company had a trading volume of 752,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 360,588. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $23.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.23. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. First Busey has a twelve month low of $21.59 and a twelve month high of $28.97.

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First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 predict that First Busey will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.75 per share, with a total value of $43,652.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 437,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,390,173.75. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 7.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 1,173.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in First Busey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Huntington National Bank acquired a new position in shares of First Busey in the third quarter worth $38,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of First Busey by 161.1% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 822.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About First Busey

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.