Keeley Teton Advisors LLC Grows Position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Keeley Teton Advisors LLC boosted its stake in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 12.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,235 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 6,620 shares during the quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.10% of First Busey worth $1,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in First Busey by 1,143.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in First Busey in the 1st quarter valued at $115,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in First Busey in the 1st quarter valued at $142,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new position in First Busey in the 4th quarter valued at $238,000. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in First Busey in the 4th quarter valued at $249,000. 56.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (up previously from $28.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 6th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.25.

First Busey Price Performance

NASDAQ BUSE traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $28.41. The company had a trading volume of 494,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 266,355. First Busey Co. has a 52 week low of $17.51 and a 52 week high of $28.97. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 0.86.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.02). First Busey had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 17.18%. The company had revenue of $110.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.06 million. Equities research analysts expect that First Busey Co. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Busey news, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $143,358.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 89,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,107,088.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other First Busey news, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $143,358.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 89,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,107,088.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $389,328.06. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,277 shares in the company, valued at $9,092,960.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 365 shares of company stock worth $7,725 and sold 25,090 shares worth $591,240. 7.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.