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 profit rebound after a merger-charge-driven loss a year earlier, with net income of about ~$45 million and net interest margin improving to roughly 3.77%. Q2 2026 followed with net income of about ~$59 million on revenue of about ~$197 million, and adjusted EPS of ~$0.69 against a consensus near ~$0.64, the fourth straight quarterly beat. Over the twelve months to June 2026 the bank earned about ~$212 million on ~$783 million of revenue. The stock offers a meaningful dividend yield (around ~3.6% as of October 2026, on ~$1.04 a year) with a payout ratio near 42% of earnings, so it tends to appeal to income and value-oriented investors rather than growth buyers. The shares are up about 24% in 2026, and on October 2 Piper Sandler downgraded them to Neutral from Overweight with a $30 target, close to where the stock trades. Third-quarter results are scheduled for October 27, 2026, with consensus near ~$0.67 per share. 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. After a roughly 34% one-year gain the valuation sits near book value and analyst views have split, with Piper Sandler moving to Neutral in October 2026; consensus also points to flat revenue (about -1% in the latest quarter) and only modest EPS growth into 2027.

7 analysts publish price targets on BUSE, averaging $32.43 against a $29.43 price as of October 2026, or +10.2%. The published targets run from $30.00 to $35.00, a narrow spread, and the ratings split 3 buy, 4 hold, 0 sell. Over the last six months there have been 7 raises and 1 cut 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, $30.00, 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.

No. First Busey Corporation (BUSE) has not split its stock in the last 10 years. That is a statement about the window we check rather than about the company’s entire history, so an older split is possible. It also matters less than it once did: fractional shares mean a high price per share no longer keeps smaller investors out, which removed most of the practical reason to split.

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: ~$2.45B at ~$29.65 per share
• Revenue (TTM): ~$783M; latest quarter ~-1% year over year
• Net income (TTM): ~$212M; profit margin ~30%
• Latest quarter (Q2 2026): Net income ~$59M; adjusted EPS ~$0.69 vs ~$0.64 expected
• P/E: ~12.3x trailing, ~10.8x forward
• Price-to-book: ~1.0x
• Dividend yield: ~3.6% (~$1.04 a year), payout ratio ~42%

As of October 16, 2026 First Busey carried a market capitalization near ~$2.45 billion against roughly ~$18 billion in total assets (as last reported); the bigger balance sheet is the result of the CrossFirst acquisition. A trailing P/E near 12, a forward P/E near 11 and a price close to book value are typical of a profitable, dividend-focused community bank, and analysts expect EPS of about ~$2.69 for 2026 and ~$2.74 for 2027. 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. It has beaten EPS estimates for four straight quarters and the stock has risen about 34% in a year, leaving it near 11 times forward earnings and roughly book value.

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.