SummerHaven Investment Management LLC Makes New $922,000 Investment in First Busey Corporation $BUSE

SummerHaven Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 31,650 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $922,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 61.4% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 881 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $70,000. 56.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Busey Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of First Busey stock opened at $29.43 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.08 and a 200-day moving average of $28.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.75. First Busey Corporation has a 1-year low of $22.12 and a 1-year high of $31.70.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $194.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.59 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 21.00%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First Busey Corporation will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 23rd. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Busey news, Director Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.12, for a total transaction of $41,961.92. Following the sale, the director owned 128,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,743,987.52. This represents a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 4,323 shares of company stock valued at $130,627 over the last three months. 3.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on BUSE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Busey in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of First Busey from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of First Busey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

First Busey Profile

First Busey Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. Its principal subsidiary, Busey Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses, institutions and municipalities.

Busey Bank offers consumer and commercial deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, business loans, treasury management, trust services and other financial solutions. Through Busey Wealth Management, the company also provides investment management, financial planning, private banking and fiduciary services.