Bank Director's RankingBanking Study Ranks Top-Performing U.S. Banks

Annual study ranks the 300 largest public banks.

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank Director, the leading information resource for directors and officers of financial institutions nationwide, released its 2024 RankingBanking study, sponsored by Crowe LLP. Each year, Bank Director's RankingBanking study examines the performance of the 300 largest publicly traded banks. This year, many of the top performers were community banks, proving that the community bank model is far from dead. In this study, find out why some banks fill the top ranks year over year while others tend to fall short.

Emily McCormick, Bank Director's Vice President of Editorial & Research, analyzed why smaller banks tend to dominate the top 25 ranking. When discussing this recurring trend with Kara Baldwin, a partner who leads the financial services audit group at Crowe LLP, Kara shared that some of that performance has to do with a loyal customer base. "When something goes wrong, you can have a discussion with someone who actually knows you personally," she says. "You're not getting sent to a call center far off. And for a lot of these commercial deposits, that's what they want."

RankingBanking uses four metrics to gauge the performance of public commercial and savings banks. The metrics are core return on average assets and core return on average equity, tangible common equity to tangible assets, and nonperforming assets to loans and other real estate owned. Each bank is ranked on each metric, and the sum of the rankings produces a final score.

Below are the 25 Top-Ranked Banks Overall:

1. Westamerica Bancorp. (WABC), San Rafael, CA
2. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (FMCB), Lodi, CA
3. Macatawa Bank Corp. (MCBC), Holland, MI
4. Mercantile Bank Corp. (MBWM), Wyoming, MI
5. East West Bancorp (EWBC), Pasadena, CA
6. Commerce Bancshares (CBSH), Kansas City, MO
7. Cashmere Valley Bank (CSHX), Cashmere, WA
8. City Holding Co. (CHCO), Charleston, WV
9. The Bancorp (TBBK), Wilmington, DE
10. Private Bancorp of America (PBAM), La Jolla, CA
11. ACNB Corp. (ACNB), Gettysburg, PA
12. Lakeland Financial Corp. (LKFN), Warsaw, IN
13. Central Bancompany (CBCY.B), Jefferson City, MO
14. River City Bank  (RCBC), Sacramento, CA
15. Community Trust Bancorp. (CTBI), Louisville, KY
16. Bank OZK (OZK), Little Rock, AR
17. ServisFirst Bancshares (SFBS), Birmingham, AL
18. Five Star Bancorp (FSBC), Roseville, CA
19. Southern States Bancshares (SSBK), Anniston, AL
20. MainStreet Bancshares (MNSB), Fairfax, VA
21. HBT Financial (HBT), Bloomington, IL
22. Parke Bancorp (PKBK), Sewell, NJ
23. Great Southern Bancorp (GSBC), Springfield, MO
24. 1st Source Corp. (SRCE), South Bend, IN
25. International Bancshares Corp. (IBOC), Laredo, TX

To access the full list of top performing U.S. publicly traded banks, along with the top banks broken out by asset size, click here.

"Our deep dive into the inner workings of top performing banks such as Bank OZK and Five Star Bancorp show some unique strategies,'' says Naomi Snyder, editor-in-chief for Bank Director. "But overall, the banks that did better tended to be small banks that dominated their markets and niches, with low-cost deposits and strong balance sheet management."

Takeaways from RankingBanking:

• Conservative banks with low cost deposits such as Farmers & Merchants dominate the top performers.
• Asset quality declined a bit for the top performing banks but remained generally pristine.
• The top 25 banks had a median ROAA for 2023 of 1.54% and ROAE of 16.71%, in contrast to 1.03% and 10.53%, respectively, for the 300 largest public banks.
• East West Bancorp was the only bank above $50 billion in assets that made it to the top 25 overall list.
• Banks with strong balance sheets, low cost deposits and highly profitable business lines did better than others.

To review the full results of Bank Director's RankingBanking study, along with previous RankingBanking reports, please visit BankDirector.com. 

About Bank Director
Bank Director reaches the leaders of the institutions that comprise America's banking industry. Since 1991, Bank Director has provided board-level research, peer insights and in-depth executive and board services. Built for banks, Bank Director extends into and beyond the boardroom by providing timely and relevant information through Bank Director magazine, board training services and the financial industry's premier event, Acquire or Be Acquired. For more information, please visit www.BankDirector.com.

About Crowe LLP
Crowe LLP is a public accounting, consulting and technology firm with offices around the world. Crowe uses its deep industry expertise to provide audit services to public and private entities. The firm and its subsidiaries also help clients make smart decisions that lead to lasting value with its tax, advisory and consulting services. Crowe is recognized by many organizations as one of the best places to work in the U.S. As an independent member of Crowe Global, one of the largest global accounting networks in the world, Crowe serves clients worldwide. The network consists of more than 200 independent accounting and advisory services firms in more than 130 countries around the world. For more information about Crowe financial industry services www.crowe.com/fs.

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For more information, please contact Bank Director's Director of Marketing, Deahna Welcher at [email protected].

SOURCE Bank Director