First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Posted by Geri Gentry on Sep 16th, 2026

Shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE – Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.00.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded First Busey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Busey in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th.

Check Out Our Latest Report on BUSE

First Busey Stock Up 0.0%

BUSE stock opened at $30.54 on Wednesday. First Busey has a fifty-two week low of $22.00 and a fifty-two week high of $31.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $30.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The bank reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.06. First Busey had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 21.00%.The company had revenue of $194.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.59 million. As a group, analysts forecast that First Busey will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 24th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 24th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.98%.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other news, Director Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.08, for a total value of $44,786.28. Following the sale, the director directly owned 131,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,559.24. The trade was a 1.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 4.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,067,210 shares of the bank’s stock worth $128,046,000 after acquiring an additional 194,343 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of First Busey by 36,664.6% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,131,973 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,510,000 after purchasing an additional 3,123,454 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in First Busey by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,384,661 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,941,000 after purchasing an additional 102,904 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in First Busey in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,712,000. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its position in First Busey by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 632,898 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,057,000 after purchasing an additional 32,308 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

About First Busey

(Get Free Report)

First Busey Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. Its principal subsidiary, Busey Bank, provides banking services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions through branch locations and digital banking channels.

The company offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgages, treasury management, cash management and other traditional banking products. Through its wealth management operations, First Busey also provides investment management, trust, retirement planning, financial planning and related advisory services.

First Busey traces its history to 1868 and serves customers primarily across Illinois, as well as selected markets in Indiana, Missouri and Florida.