Semanteon Capital Management LP Invests $417,000 in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 17,709 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 45,324 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,068,000 after buying an additional 1,406 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 162.8% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,635 shares of the bank’s stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 14,022 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 193.7% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 85,027 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,004,000 after buying an additional 56,073 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of First Busey by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of First Busey by 442.2% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 72,438 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 59,077 shares during the period. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $22.05 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $23.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.80. First Busey Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.21 and a fifty-two week high of $28.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BUSE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Three equities 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.00.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $23.75 per share, for a total transaction of $43,652.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

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.