Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Makes New $1.74 Million Investment in First Busey Corporation $BUSE

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 68,974 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,743,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in First Busey by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,746,996 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $184,301,000 after purchasing an additional 611,090 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,078,833 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $117,575,000 after purchasing an additional 33,430 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 36,664.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,131,973 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $74,510,000 after purchasing an additional 3,123,454 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,384,661 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,941,000 after purchasing an additional 102,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,314,576 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,274,000 after purchasing an additional 145,681 shares during the period. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In other news, CAO Scott A. Phillips acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.90 per share, with a total value of $129,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,265. This trade represents a 149.25% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BUSE shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Busey from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of First Busey from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens boosted their price target on shares of First Busey from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Busey has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.60.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BUSE opened at $30.17 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. First Busey Corporation has a one year low of $21.63 and a one year high of $30.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s fifty day moving average is $27.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.04.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $197.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.15 million. First Busey had a net margin of 19.16% and a return on equity of 10.19%. Analysts forecast that First Busey Corporation will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 24th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 24th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. First Busey’s payout ratio is 46.22%.

First Busey Company Profile

First Busey (NASDAQ: BUSE) is a bank holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois, with roots tracing back to the founding of Busey Bank in 1868. As a regional financial institution, it offers a broad spectrum of banking services to individuals, small businesses, and corporations. Its core activities include commercial lending, deposit-taking, and cash management, which are tailored to meet the needs of local communities across its operating footprint.

In addition to traditional banking operations, First Busey provides wealth management and trust services through its subsidiary aimed at high-net-worth clients and fiduciary accounts.