Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Acquires Shares of 364,580 First Busey Corporation $BUSE

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 364,580 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $8,343,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in First Busey by 56.4% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,251 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in First Busey by 726.1% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,280 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 2,004 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 34.3% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,389 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 865 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 8.0% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 8,745 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Busey by 328.5% in the second quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 10,176 shares of the bank’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 7,801 shares during the period. 56.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Busey Trading Down 0.1%

BUSE opened at $23.52 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.29. The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.45 and a beta of 0.82. First Busey Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.40 and a 52 week high of $27.29.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 20th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $63.34 million for the quarter. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 11.00%. Analysts forecast that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 24th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 24th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BUSE. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on First Busey from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price (down from $28.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Busey in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Busey has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.33.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Karen M. Jensen acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.60 per share, for a total transaction of $73,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 86,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,135,230.80. This trade represents a 3.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Scott A. Phillips acquired 1,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.64 per share, for a total transaction of $34,614.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief accounting officer owned 2,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,254. This trade represents a 135.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.85% of the company’s stock.

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.