First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Position Lessened by Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. decreased its stake in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 276,690 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 59,780 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in First Busey were worth $6,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BUSE. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Busey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,053,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 565.7% in the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 402,097 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,980,000 after purchasing an additional 341,692 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 523,703 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,066,000 after purchasing an additional 66,588 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,278,444 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 97.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 76,255 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,893,000 after purchasing an additional 37,563 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Stock Performance

First Busey stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $22.49. 370,289 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 120,244. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $22.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 0.85. First Busey Co. has a one year low of $17.51 and a one year high of $25.80.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.02). First Busey had a net margin of 18.08% and a return on equity of 9.37%. The firm had revenue of $110.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.06 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that First Busey Co. will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 18th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BUSE has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Busey has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.96, for a total value of $52,808.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,978 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,190,934.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 2,348 shares of company stock worth $47,993 and have sold 6,900 shares worth $158,999. 7.10% of the stock is owned by 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.