Q1 Earnings Forecast for First Busey Issued By DA Davidson

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) – Equities research analysts at DA Davidson upped their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for First Busey in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, February 26th. DA Davidson analyst J. Rulis now anticipates that the bank will earn $0.54 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.22. DA Davidson currently 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.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%.

BUSE has been the subject of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reduced 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. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

First Busey Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ BUSE opened at $23.99 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.23. 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 has a twelve month low of $21.59 and a twelve month high of $28.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.87.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in First Busey by 211.9% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 100,952 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,627,000 after purchasing an additional 68,585 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 5.4% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 191,934 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,994,000 after buying an additional 9,782 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 145.4% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,954 shares of the bank’s stock worth $754,000 after buying an additional 17,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey during the third quarter worth approximately $348,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw purchased 1,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,390,173.75. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 7.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 presently 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.