First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.04 EPS

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $140.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.15 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%.

First Busey Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ BUSE opened at $20.58 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $21.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.87. First Busey has a 52-week low of $18.40 and a 52-week high of $28.97.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.86%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.76%.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw acquired 1,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased 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 directly owns 437,481 shares in the company, valued at $10,390,173.75. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 7.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price target (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.80.

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.