Stephens Lowers First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) to Equal Weight

by · The Cerbat Gem

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE – Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Stephens from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, FinViz reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Busey has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.60.

Read Our Latest Report on BUSE

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of BUSE stock opened at $25.27 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.49. First Busey has a one year low of $17.51 and a one year high of $28.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The business had revenue of $116.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.65 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Busey will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey during the second quarter worth $34,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 257.4% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,998 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,439 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in First Busey in the 1st quarter worth about $115,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of First Busey during the first quarter valued at $142,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management lifted its position in First Busey by 27.3% during the first quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 8,606 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,848 shares during the period. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About First Busey

(Get Free Report)

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.

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