- Key insight: After announcing two bank acquisitions in 2025, Huntington has made its bias for organic growth clear. But Chairman and CEO Steve Steinour isn’t entirely ruling out additional M&A activity, provided that a prospective deal fits its parameters.
- Supporting data: Huntington expects that its recent acquisition of three business units from Janney Montgomery Scott will add up to $90 million in full-year revenue to its capital markets business.
- Expert quote: “There’s a culture in Texas of can-do and drive and getting results.” — Steve Steinour
Huntington Bancshares Chairman and CEO Steve Steinour is pleased that 2025 gave the Ohio-based company the opportunity to get bigger in Texas. Actually, not just one opportunity, but two.
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“There’s a culture in Texas of can-do and drive and getting results. It’s very refreshing,” Steinour told American Banker on Thursday. “You feel it when you’re in-market there, and it’s extraordinary.”
Last year, Huntington announced deals for two Texas banks: the $12.7 billion-asset, Dallas-based Vertex Community Bank, and the $53.5 billion-asset Cadence Bank, with dual headquarters in Houston and Tupelo, Mississippi.
Huntington closed its acquisition of Veritex in October and completed the systems integration on Jan. 19. It’s anticipating completing the Cadence deal on Feb. 1.
Huntington expects to fully realize the projected cost savings associated with the Veritex merger in the second quarter, and those associated with the Cadence acquisition in the fourth quarter, according to Brant Standridge, the company’s president of consumer and regional banking.
“We are excited about how these two partnerships will springboard our growth in Texas across a number of new markets,” Standridge said Thursday on a conference call with analysts.
Buoyed by Veritex, Huntington reported loans totaling $149.6 billion on Dec. 31, up 15% from a year earlier. Deposits of $176.6 billion were up 9%.
Excluding the impact of acquiring Cadence, Huntington is projecting full-year 2026 loan growth of 11% to 12%, along with deposit growth of 8% to 9%. Cadence is expected to add loans totaling $34 billion and deposits of $43 billion — as well as 118 Texas branches.
During the fourth quarter, Huntington reported net income of $519 million. That result was down 2% from the same quarter in 2024, but it included $154 million of pretax merger expenses.
For all of 2025, Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington reported net income totaling $2.2 billion, up 14% over 2024.
“The industry had a good year. We had a great year,” Steinour told American Banker.
The $225.1 billion-asset Huntington’s fourth-quarter revenue totaled $2.17 billion, up 11% from the same three-month period in 2024. It’s projecting double-digit growth in 2026, driven in large part by its expanded footprint in the Lone Star State.
Huntington also reported capital markets revenue of $101 million for the three months ending Dec. 31. Going forward, that total should get a boost from the previously announced acquisition of three business units from the capital markets division of investment bank Janney Montgomery Scott.
That transaction is expected to boost annual capital markets revenue by as much as $90 million, Huntington Chief Financial Officer Zach Wasserman told analysts Thursday.
“It’s a home run for us,” Steinour said, adding that the company’s revenue-boost estimate could be on the low side “if it’s a banner year.”
Huntington reported fourth-quarter net charge-offs of $89 million, or 0.24% of average loans and leases. In dollar terms, net charge-offs were down 8% from the fourth quarter of 2024.
Steinour said he expected solid credit-quality trends to continue into 2026, with minimal disruption from the additions of Veritex and Cadence. “We’re getting well-run banks to begin with, so I wouldn’t expect a whole lot of issues,” the CEO said.
Wasserman said on the conference call that he expects full-year 2026 net charge-offs to finish on “the lower end” of Huntington’s targeted range, which is 0.25% to 0.35% of total loans and leases.
Although Steinour emphasized the company’s intent to “drive the core” with a focus on organic growth, he also didn’t rule out another deal.
Potential acquisitions “have to be strategic in nature, where they’re adding value and revenue growth, and they have to meet financial and risk metrics,” Steinour said on the conference call with analysts. “If someone approaches us with something of that nature, then we would take a look at it.”
