DA Davidson Cuts First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Price Target to $25.00

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) had its price target reduced by DA Davidson from $28.00 to $25.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on BUSE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.75.

First Busey Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ BUSE opened at $24.28 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 0.88. First Busey has a one year low of $21.59 and a one year high of $28.97. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $24.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.50.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that First Busey will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.76%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Huntington National Bank bought a new stake in First Busey during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in First Busey in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the 3rd quarter worth $171,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 3rd quarter valued at $224,000. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.