Q1 Earnings Forecast for First Busey Issued By DA Davidson

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) – Analysts at DA Davidson raised their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of First Busey in a research report issued on Wednesday, February 26th. DA Davidson analyst J. Rulis now forecasts that the bank will earn $0.54 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $0.22. 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. DA Davidson also issued estimates for First Busey’s FY2025 earnings at $2.60 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler cut their target price on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.00.

First Busey Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of BUSE opened at $23.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.23. First Busey has a twelve month low of $21.59 and a twelve month high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) 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%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the third quarter valued at $38,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 161.1% in 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 increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 822.7% in 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 own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.75 per share, for a total transaction of $43,652.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 437,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,390,173.75. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Increases Dividend

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

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.