Emerald Advisers LLC Makes New $9.12 Million Investment in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 386,726 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $9,115,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in First Busey by 1,173.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in First Busey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey during the third quarter valued at approximately $171,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the third quarter worth approximately $224,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of First Busey in the fourth quarter worth $245,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $23.75 per share, with a total value of $43,652.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 437,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,390,173.75. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of BUSE opened at $22.05 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 0.84. First Busey Co. has a one year low of $21.21 and a one year high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts anticipate that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Busey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

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.