Huntington Strengthens Texas Presence With Veritex Acquisition
Huntington Bancshares, Inc. HBAN has completed its merger with Veritex Holdings, Inc. in a $1.9 billion all-stock transaction, strengthening its commitment to the Texas market.
Both Huntington and Veritex customers will continue to bank as normal at their existing branches. Veritex customer accounts will be converted to Huntington's systems in the first quarter of 2026.
Strategic Implications of HBAN - Veritex Merger
The merger with Veritex represents HBAN’s strategic plan to accelerate its strong organic growth in Texas by expanding its presence in Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston.
The combined company has nearly $223 billion in assets, $176 billion in deposits and $148 billion in loans. With Veritex's 31 branches in Texas, Huntington will have more than 1,000 branches in its network. Huntington plans to maintain Veritex's branch network and invest in growing it over time.
During the third-quarter earnings call, HBAN management stated that the integration is expected to generate about $20 million in core pre-provision net revenue benefits in the fourth quarter of 2025. Further, the company expects efficiency ratio improvement of around 1 percentage point and a 30-basis-point lift in return on average tangible common equity (ROTCE) for 2025, with greater opportunity anticipated from revenue growth synergies.
Also, as the Veritex acquisition accelerated Texas expansion, Huntington now expects net interest income (NII) to grow between 10% and 11% compared with the prior outlook of 8% to 9%. This improvement is supported by continued strength in both loan and deposit growth. Inclusive of Veritex, average deposit balance growth is projected to be in the range of 6.5% to 7%. Loan growth is expected to reach approximately 9% to 9.5% for the year.
Additionally, Huntington projects mid to high single-digit loan growth in 2026, driven by expansion in high-growth markets like Texas and sustained operational efficiency.
HBAN’s Prior Efforts to Expand in Texas
In March 2024, HBAN announced plans to expand its commercial banking business in Texas, following its footprint extension in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in early 2024.
As part of its ongoing geographic and vertical expansion, the company broadened its middle-market banking presence in Texas. In January 2025, Huntington introduced two new verticals, the Financial Institutions Group and the Aerospace & Defense Group, as part of its ongoing geographic and vertical expansion. Both verticals offer advisory services and corporate banking solutions, including liquidity and treasury management, capital markets and corporate finance.
These strategic efforts are expected to strengthen Huntington’s commercial banking capabilities, broaden its market presence and attract new customer segments across the region.
HBAN’s Price Performance & Zacks Rank
Over the six months, shares of Huntington have risen 14.6% compared with the industry’s growth of 9.5%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
HBAN currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Other Finance Firms Taking Similar Steps
Earlier this month, Rocket Companies, Inc. RKT completed the acquisition of Mr. Cooper Group Inc. in a $14.2 billion all-stock transaction. As a result of the acquisition, the combined company is expected to serve nearly 10 million clients, managing a $2.1 trillion unpaid principal balance, which represents roughly one in every six mortgages across the country.
The combination unites Mr. Cooper’s servicing operations with RKT’s scale in mortgage origination and its growing real estate and technology platform. Together, the companies will create a comprehensive homeownership ecosystem spanning mortgage origination, servicing, real estate search, title, and closing. As part of the transaction, Mr. Cooper and its servicing operations will transition under the Rocket brand.
In the same month, Fifth Third Bancorp FITB entered a definitive merger agreement to acquire Comerica Incorporated in an all-stock transaction valued at $10.9 billion. The transaction is projected to close at the end of the first quarter of 2026.
The impending acquisition serves as a strategic acceleration of FITB’s long-term growth plan, enhancing scale, profitability and geographic reach. By integrating Fifth Third’s retail and digital banking platforms with Comerica’s strong middle-market expertise and attractive regional footprint, the merger enhances FITB’s presence across high-growth markets.
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