First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Shares Acquired by SummerHaven Investment Management LLC

SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 115.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 68,307 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,657 shares during the quarter. First Busey comprises about 1.0% of SummerHaven Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC’s holdings in First Busey were worth $1,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 1,173.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings 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. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Busey by 822.7% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its position in First Busey by 507.5% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,786 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in First Busey by 3,182.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,990 shares of the bank’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 4,838 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BUSE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James dropped their target price on First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.80.

First Busey Stock Performance

BUSE opened at $22.73 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.99. First Busey Co. has a 52-week low of $18.40 and a 52-week high of $28.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.54 and a beta of 0.78.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $140.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.15 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.40%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.46%.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In other news, Director Steven W. Caple bought 1,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $21.60 per share, with a total value of $25,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,394.40. This trade represents a 35.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.70 per share, with a total value of $119,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 72,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,563,875.60. This represents a 8.26% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders acquired 13,125 shares of company stock worth $286,148. 3.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.