First Busey Corporation
In the published model solve dated 2026-Q2, anchored at $30.66, First Busey Corporation (BUSE) is priced for 9.6% return on equity. boothcheck publishes no house fair value, target price, or buy/sell rating; individual model outputs and user-controlled scenarios are analytical inputs, not Boothcheck targets. The narrative was composed July 25, 2026 from SEC EDGAR filings.
• Nearly half of last year's revenue growth was purchased rather than generated: the CrossFirst acquisition closed on 1 March 2025 and brought $7.50 billion of assets and ⟦"Deposits 6,571,699"⟧ thousand with it, paid for almost entirely in newly issued shares. • Credit is the number to watch rather than growth, because potential problem loans rose to ⟦"$166.5 million, or 1.2% of portfolio loans, as of March 31, 2026, compared to $116.4 million, or 0.9%"⟧ previously. • Second-quarter results land
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238 institutional managers reported holding BUSE in 13F filings for the quarter ended 2026-03-31. Together they hold about 63% of the company; the top 10 hold 40%. 38 opened new positions that quarter. Held by Wellington Management, BlackRock, Dimensional Fund Advisors, among others. On the short side, 3.3M shares were sold short as of the 2026-06-15 count, about 4% of shares outstanding (4 days of typical volume to cover).
Quarterly 13F filings arrive up to 45 days after quarter end, so the picture is never current (filed through 2026-05-29). Nothing here is investment advice.
BUSE's share count grew 57.5% over the past five years even with $176.20M spent on repurchases. It pays a dividend, and has paid one every year in our records (16 and counting); the current rate is $1.00 a share annually. Cash returned over the past three years: $198.90M in dividends and $139.56M in repurchases.
Share counts are split-adjusted; repurchase totals are gross of share issuance. Nothing here is investment advice.
Open-market insider buys at BUSE over the trailing three years: 2023: 32 buys totaling $1.63M; 2024: 44 buys totaling $274k; 2025: 40 buys totaling $3.25M; 2026: 2 buys totaling $34k. 26 officers and directors are on file.
Code P open-market purchases from SEC Form 4 filings, non-derivative, excluding scheduled 10b5-1 plans. Nothing here is investment advice.
BUSE's recent reports: the day-one move, then what the following quarter actually did.
| report | day one | next quarter |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-08-04 | -0.6% | -10.9% |
| 2023-11-03 | -2.7% | +17.1% |
| 2024-02-24 | +0.4% | -0.1% |
| 2024-05-08 | -0.1% | +3.5% |
Day-one is the close-to-close move around the filing. Nothing here is investment advice.
BUSE's latest 8-K filings: 2026-08-07 (items 8.01); 2026-07-31 (items 5.02); 2026-07-28 (items 2.02, 7.01, 9.01); 2026-07-14 (items 5.02, 8.01, 9.01); 2026-05-22 (items 5.02, 5.07, 8.01, 9.01).
Item codes are the SEC's own classification of what each report discloses. Dates link to the filing on EDGAR. Nothing here is investment advice.
Model solve date: 2026-Q2
Narrative composed: July 25, 2026
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For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.