Renasant Corporation (NASDAQ:RNST) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Jordan Ghent: Hey, good morning. Guys, how are you doing? I just wanted to ask about capital and kind of what you guys’ preferences, you know, capital continues to build and you have the buyback program in place. Just kind of what is your appetite for any share repurchases going forward?

James Mabry: Morning, Jordan. This is Jim. So, as you noted, we did — we — our program has just expired and the Board renewed the repurchase program. As you know, there was no activity in Q3. And I would say this, that, as our cap ratios do build, it gives us more flexibility with regard to how we might utilize that capital and share repurchases are a constant topic of conversation, but I would say that generally, we’re not leaning in that direction. We don’t take it off the table. It’s always something that we think about potential use. And our expectation is that we’ll have other opportunities. At least we think that’s very possible in the coming quarters. That feels like there’s a lot going on in the industry, and we think that, that could present some opportunities for the company. And so, you know, maintaining and growing that capital in the near term is something that we like because it’s — we like the flexibility that that gives us.

Jordan Ghent: Perfect. And then maybe just kind of a follow-up to that. You said other opportunities. How do you weigh the capital use between organic growth and M&A?

James Mabry: You know, I think as we, you know, think about growth, organic growth is certainly preferred, and that’s really how we’ve largely grown the company over the last few years. And, you know, as you saw in the numbers this quarter, we had really good growth, and it was very diverse and across all geographies. So it was, you know, pretty much in line with what we’ve done the last few quarters. So that’s the preference and that’s the priority. But as Mitch has said in the past, we, you know, remain open to looking at external growth, M&A growth. And of course, we’ve done some smaller non-bank acquisitions over the last, you know, 12 months or so. And, you know, we believe that as you look forward in the banking industry, we think that there’s, you know, a growing likelihood in the, you know, year ahead or so that we could see more depository opportunities, and we remain open to those and, you know, feel like on the right terms, those could be attractive for our shareholders.

Jordan Ghent: Perfect. Okay, thank you for taking my questions.

James Mabry: You’re welcome.

Operator: Thank you. This concludes question-and-answer session. Now I’d like to turn the conference back over to Mitch Waycaster for closing remarks.

Mitchell Waycaster: Well, thank you, Nick. And thank each of you for joining the call today. In closing, our Renasant team wishes for Sally Pope Davis the very best in her upcoming retirement. We next plan to participate in the Piper Sandler Conference on November the 15th and 16th.

Operator: Conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect.

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