DA Davidson Forecasts First Busey FY2026 Earnings

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) – DA Davidson issued their FY2026 EPS estimates for First Busey in a report released on Wednesday, February 26th. DA Davidson analyst J. Rulis forecasts that the bank will earn $2.90 per share for the year. DA Davidson currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for First Busey’s current full-year earnings is $2.61 per share.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on BUSE. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Monday. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

First Busey Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $23.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.87. First Busey has a 1-year low of $21.59 and a 1-year high of $28.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a 50-day moving average of $23.78 and a 200 day moving average of $25.23.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,838 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at $10,390,173.75. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BUSE. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in First Busey by 2.7% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,427 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 7,396 shares of the bank’s stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in First Busey by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,293 shares of the bank’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,799 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,635,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in First Busey by 161.1% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

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.