Q1 Earnings Forecast for First Busey Issued By DA Davidson

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) - Analysts at DA Davidson issued their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for First Busey in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson analyst J. Rulis forecasts that the bank will post earnings of $0.22 per share for the quarter. 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 $2.58 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for First Busey's FY2025 earnings at $2.90 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a report 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, First Busey has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.75.

First Busey Stock Performance

BUSE traded up $0.49 on Monday, reaching $25.35. The stock had a trading volume of 337,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 354,465. First Busey has a 12-month low of $21.59 and a 12-month high of $28.97. 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 company has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 0.87. The business's 50-day moving average price is $24.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.43.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from First Busey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. First Busey's payout ratio is currently 50.76%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in First Busey during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,498,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in First Busey by 168.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 149,279 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,884,000 after buying an additional 93,733 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 211.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 100,952 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,627,000 after acquiring an additional 68,585 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of First Busey by 81.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,069 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,516,000 after purchasing an additional 60,506 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in First Busey by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,287 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,549,000 after acquiring an additional 39,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company's stock.

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.