Brokers Set Expectations for First Busey FY2026 Earnings

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) – Equities research analysts at DA Davidson issued their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for First Busey in a report issued on Wednesday, February 26th. DA Davidson analyst J. Rulis expects that the bank will post earnings per share of $2.90 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

First Busey Stock Performance

First Busey stock opened at $23.99 on Thursday. 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 $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.23. First Busey has a fifty-two week low of $21.59 and a fifty-two week high of $28.97.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw acquired 1,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $23.75 per share, with a total value of $43,652.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

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

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.