First Busey Corporation (BUSE) Stock Price & How to Invest

First Busey Corporation (Nasdaq: BUSE), founded in 1868, is a financial holding company operating through its subsidiary Busey Bank across three segments: Banking, Wealth Management, and FirsTech (payment technology). Following its March 2025 acquisition of CrossFirst Bankshares in an all-stock deal valued near ~$917 million, the company relocated its holding-company base toward Leawood, Kansas and expanded well beyond its historic Illinois roots into fast-growing markets across the central and western United States. As of March 2026 it reported roughly ~$18 billion in total assets, ~$13.5 billion in loans, and ~$14.7 billion in deposits, of which the large majority were core, lower-cost deposits.

The investment picture is that of a mid-cap regional bank in the middle of digesting a large merger. Q1 2026 showed a clean profit rebound (net income around ~$50 million, or ~$0.52 per diluted share) after a merger-charge-driven loss a year earlier, with net interest margin improving to roughly 3.77%. The stock offers a meaningful dividend yield (around ~3.8%) with a payout ratio comfortably covered by earnings, so it tends to appeal to income and value-oriented investors rather than growth buyers. The key variables are integration execution, deposit costs, and credit trends in a still-uncertain rate environment.

As a regional bank, Busey is exposed to interest-rate swings that can compress margins and to credit deterioration, particularly in commercial real estate and commercial loans if the economy weakens. Integration risk from the CrossFirst deal is real: cost savings may fall short, key bankers or customers could leave, and one-time charges weighed on recent results. The stock is relatively small and less liquid than money-center banks, so it can be volatile. Deposit competition, regulatory scrutiny of larger banks, and any renewed stress in the regional-banking sector could all pressure the shares.

7 analysts publish price targets on BUSE, averaging $32.86 against a $30.86 price as of August 2026, or +6.5%. The published targets run from $31.00 to $35.00, a narrow spread, and the ratings split 4 buy, 3 hold, 0 sell. Over the last six months there have been 7 raises and 0 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full BUSE forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on First Busey Corporation. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. CrossFirst merger accretion and scale. The completed CrossFirst acquisition roughly reshaped Busey into an ~$18 billion institution with a footprint spanning Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Florida, and Indiana. The most optimistic published target, $35.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. As a regional bank, Busey is exposed to interest-rate swings that can compress margins and to credit deterioration, particularly in commercial real estate and commercial loans if the economy weakens. The most pessimistic target, $31.00, is roughly what BUSE is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on BUSE, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see First Busey Corporation's investor relations page or your broker.

• Market cap: ~$2.5B
• Total assets: ~$18.0B
• Revenue (Q1 2026): ~$193M
• Q1 2026 net income: ~$50M
• Diluted EPS (Q1 2026): ~$0.52
• Dividend yield: ~3.8%

As of mid-2026 First Busey carried a market capitalization near ~$2.5 billion against ~$18 billion in total assets, reflecting the larger balance sheet after the CrossFirst acquisition. Net interest margin of roughly 3.77% and a payout ratio in the high-60s percent range are typical of a profitable, dividend-focused community bank. Valuation multiples for BUSE tend to track regional-bank peers on price-to-earnings and price-to-tangible-book rather than growth metrics.

Other names that sit close to BUSE: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get BUSE exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so BUSE sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where BUSE fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

First Busey is a steady, dividend-oriented regional bank whose near-term investment case hinges on realizing the accretion from its CrossFirst merger while managing rate and credit risk.

Whether BUSE is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is BUSE a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the BUSE stock forecast.

For income investors, whether BUSE pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does BUSE pay a dividend? And to weigh BUSE against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: BUSE vs FFIN and BUSE vs FHN.