Short Interest in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Expands By 33.9%

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, an increase of 33.9% from the October 15th total of 1,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 333,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.6 days.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BUSE traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $26.47. 215,086 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 228,641. First Busey has a twelve month low of $20.67 and a twelve month high of $28.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $25.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.93. 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 (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $170.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.32 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Busey will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. First Busey’s payout ratio is 49.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BUSE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. DA Davidson upped their target price on First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com upgraded First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of First Busey from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.80.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in First Busey by 40.1% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,069 shares of the bank’s stock worth $819,000 after acquiring an additional 9,755 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Busey in the 1st quarter worth $142,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 93,317 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,244,000 after purchasing an additional 10,626 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in First Busey by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 17,013 shares of the bank’s stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 2,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Busey during the 1st quarter worth about $115,000. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.