First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.25 Per Share

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSEGet Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 14th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the bank on Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24.

First Busey has increased its dividend payment by an average of 1.4% annually over the last three years. First Busey has a payout ratio of 33.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect First Busey to earn $2.47 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 38.9%.

First Busey Stock Performance

First Busey stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $22.86. The stock had a trading volume of 304,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 294,823. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 0.88. First Busey has a 12 month low of $21.59 and a 12 month high of $28.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $25.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.60.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSEGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $170.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.32 million. First Busey had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that First Busey will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens cut First Busey from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $28.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on BUSE

First Busey Company Profile

(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.

Read More

Dividend History for First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Receive News & Ratings for First Busey Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for First Busey and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.