DA Davidson Predicts First Busey FY2026 Earnings

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) – Equities research analysts at DA Davidson issued their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of First Busey in a research report issued on Wednesday, February 26th. DA Davidson analyst J. Rulis anticipates that the bank will post earnings per share of $2.90 for the year. DA Davidson has a “Neutral” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for First Busey’s current full-year earnings is $2.61 per share.

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

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

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $23.59 on Thursday. First Busey has a one year low of $21.59 and a one year high of $28.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.78 and a 200-day moving average of $25.23. The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. This is a positive change from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.76%.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BUSE. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 1,173.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Huntington National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey during the third quarter worth $38,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Busey by 161.1% during 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. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Busey by 822.7% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Company Profile

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.