Short Interest in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Rises By 20.6%

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,040,000 shares, an increase of 20.6% from the February 13th total of 2,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 369,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.2 days. Currently, 5.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

First Busey Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of First Busey stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 79,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 271,354. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.88. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.84. First Busey has a 52 week low of $21.21 and a 52 week high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. Equities research analysts predict that First Busey will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on BUSE. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price target (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.00.

Insider Activity at First Busey

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

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new stake in First Busey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $757,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,287 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,549,000 after acquiring an additional 39,900 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Busey by 168.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 149,279 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,884,000 after purchasing an additional 93,733 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in First Busey by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,295,804 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,723,000 after purchasing an additional 22,096 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in First Busey by 61.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,550 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 15,829 shares during the last quarter. 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.