Jason Darby: I think so. I mean it’s going to — we’re in a pretty neutral position right now. So, I don’t think the benefit is going to be anything significant in the immediate term. I think over time, we absolutely would benefit from it. But the cost of funds are probably not going to drop as rapidly as the Fed rate goes down. But in theory, the bank should benefit as rates decline over time. And I think we’ve done a pretty good job so far of protecting the earnings streams in our kind of static situation right now, right? So, not adding anything new to the books. We’ve got a well-protected earnings stream. And as rates decline, we should see some benefit going forward.
Janet Lee: Okay. And I know it’s tough to guess, but is it fair to say that we’re nearing the trough for your non-interest-bearing deposit outflows absent the seasonality with political deposits. Do you see a scenario where your non-interest-bearing deposits could continue to go down and dip below 40% of your total deposits?
Jason Darby: That’s an interesting question. I suppose there’s always that type of scenario, it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen in the rate environment going forward. Just kind of looking at the churn that we had in the current quarter and having us only decline by about a percentage point on non-interest-bearing from a mix point of view. We’re not being below 40% at this point in time, but I think a 42% to 44% kind of landing spot by the end of the year is a reasonable prediction. But again, it’s a little bit of a guess because a lot is dependent upon the flow of the political deposits, which we saw really have a nice impact this quarter. And at the same time, if rates stay higher for longer, over time, we could see that ratio continue to drop. But right now, we’re targeting between 42% and 44% for the end of the year.
Janet Lee: All right. That’s helpful. My last question, can you give us more thoughts around your plan for share repurchases? Are you doing it as long as the buyback is accretive to book value? Or what’s your plan around that over the near to intermediate term?
Jason Darby: Yes, I think we’ve really always stood out with our repurchase authorization. I think we look for opportunities where we feel the price is attractive. Obviously, tangible book value is an important part of that calculus. But it really, Janet, becomes a function of accretive value when paired against our stated desire to continue to grow our capital base. So, I think there’ll always be some level of balance between the amount that we look to repurchase and our ability to continue to provide a building capital base, so that we can achieve a leverage ratio that we think is really appropriate for this bank to create optionality for growth going forward.
Janet Lee: What’s the target leverage ratio for you?
Jason Darby: We want to be at 8% on a consolidated level at a minimum by the end of the year and continue to build that into next year. I’d like to see us somewhere around 8.5% by the middle of next year. And the reason why I say that is two-fold. Number one, I think it’s appropriate to have a capital base at that level, but also we want to make sure that we’re not showing any type of unnecessary leverage drag as we get into the peak season for political deposit gathering as the presidential election will be nearing.
Janet Lee: Got it. Thanks for taking my questions.
Priscilla Sims Brown: Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our next question is from Chris O’Connell with KBW. Please proceed with your question.
Chris O’Connell: Hey good morning.
Priscilla Sims Brown: Good morning.
