DA Davidson Predicts First Busey FY2026 Earnings

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) – Stock analysts at DA Davidson issued their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for First Busey in a report issued on Wednesday, February 26th. DA Davidson analyst J. Rulis expects 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.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on BUSE. Piper Sandler cut their price target on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research note on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price target (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. First Busey has a 1-year low of $21.59 and a 1-year high of $28.97. The business has a 50-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 price-to-earnings ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 0.87.

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

First Busey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.24%. This is a boost 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

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in First Busey by 1,173.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank acquired a new stake in First Busey during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in First Busey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in First Busey by 161.1% during the fourth 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. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in First Busey by 822.7% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.