DA Davidson Has Strong Forecast for First Busey Q1 Earnings

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) – Investment analysts at DA Davidson increased their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for shares of First Busey in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, February 26th. DA Davidson analyst J. Rulis now anticipates that the bank will post earnings per share of $0.54 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.22. DA Davidson currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $25.00 price target 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.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price target (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research report on Monday, February 24th. 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, First Busey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.00.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BUSE opened at $23.99 on Friday. First Busey has a 1 year low of $21.59 and a 1 year high of $28.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.78 and a 200 day moving average of $25.23. 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 (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS 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%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in First Busey by 1,173.5% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank purchased a new position in shares of First Busey during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in First Busey in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in First Busey by 161.1% in 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 during the period. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in First Busey by 822.7% in the 4th 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw purchased 1,838 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.75 per share, with a total value of $43,652.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 437,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,390,173.75. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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. 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 dividend yield of 4.17%. This is a positive change from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.76%.

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.