Trustmark affirms 2026 net interest margin of 3.80%-3.85% while targeting $70M-$80M share repurchases

Earnings Call Insights: Trustmark Corporation (TRMK) Q1 2026

MANAGEMENT VIEW

* "We continue to build upon strong momentum from our earnings in 2025 and are pleased with our strong performance in the first quarter of 2026." (President, CEO & Director Duane Dewey)
* "Net income totaled $56.1 million, representing diluted EPS of $0.95 a share." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* "Loans held for investment increased $203.7 million or 1.5% linked quarter and $636.5 million or 4.8% year-over-year." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* "Our deposit base expanded $212.7 million or 1.4% linked quarter, driven by seasonal increases in public deposits." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* "The cost of our total deposits in the first quarter was 1.63%, a decrease of 9 basis points from the prior quarter." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* "During the first quarter, we repurchased $19.8 million or approximately 477,000 shares of stock" and "we have authorization to repurchase up to $100 million of Trustmark common shares during 2026." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* "Revenue in the first quarter totaled $203 million" and "net interest income, fully tax equivalent, in the first quarter totaled $163.5 million, which produced a net interest margin of 3.81%, which is unchanged from the prior quarter." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* "Noninterest income in the first quarter totaled $42.3 million, up 2.7% from the prior quarter" while "noninterest expense in the first quarter totaled $132.2 million, unchanged from the prior quarter." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* "Net charge-offs in the first quarter were $1.3 million" and "the net provision for credit losses in the first quarter totaled $2.7 million." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)

OUTLOOK

* "This morning, we are affirming the guidance previously provided." (President, CEO & Director Duane Dewey)
* "We expect loans held for investment to increase single digits for the full year 2026" and "deposits, excluding brokered deposits, to increase mid-single digits as well." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* "We anticipate the net interest margin to be in the range of 3.80% to 3.85% for the full year" and "we expect net interest income to increase mid-single digits." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* "From a credit perspective, the total provision for credit losses, including off-balance sheet credit exposure is expected to normalize." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* "Noninterest income for the full year 2026 is expected to increase mid-single digits as is noninterest expense." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* Compared with Q4 2025 guidance language, loan growth wording shifted from "increase mid-single digits" to "increase single digits," while the net interest margin range ("3.8% to 3.85%" then vs. "3.80% to 3.85%" now) and the mid-single-digit outlook for deposits (excluding brokered), net interest income, noninterest income, and noninterest expense were reiterated. (President, CEO & Director Dewey)

FINANCIAL RESULTS

* "Revenue in the first quarter totaled $203 million, a seasonal decrease of 0.6% from the prior quarter and an increase of 4.2% from the same quarter in the prior year." (President, CEO & Director Duane Dewey)
* "Noninterest income in the first quarter totaled $42.3 million" and "represents 20.9% of total revenue." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* "Noninterest expense in the first quarter totaled $132.2 million, unchanged from the prior quarter and up $8.1 million year-over-year." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* "At the end of the first quarter, the allowance for credit losses represented 1.16% of loans held for investment." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* "We have maintained our strong capital position as reflected by our CET1 ratio of 11.7% and our total risk-based capital ratio of 14.37% at March 31, 2026." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* "The Board declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share payable June 15, 2026." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)

Q&A

* Catherine Mealor, KBW: "Can you just talk about the puts and takes within the margin..." Thomas Owens: "we... base our guidance on market implied forwards... removed any further Fed rate cuts this year" and "you're probably looking at a basis point or so of accretion on a linked-quarter basis each quarter this year." (Principal Financial Officer & Treasurer Owens)
* Catherine Mealor, KBW: "are there levers... to get the ROA and ROE moving higher" Thomas Owens: "part of those investments that we're making in revenue producers, particularly in our growth markets" and Duane Dewey: "one other somewhat of a wildcard... is the mortgage business, where we've had pretty negative net hedge ineffectiveness." (Principal Financial Officer & Treasurer Owens; President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* Feddie Strickland, Hovde: "update... AUM and maybe an outlook" Duane Dewey: "We... made a platform change last year in our brokerage business... from an LPL platform to a Raymond James platform" and "we are expecting continued progress and stabilization." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* Feddie Strickland, Hovde: "change in the cadence of repurchases" Thomas Owens: "we... deploy nearly $20 million via share repurchase in the first quarter" and "we're probably thinking $70 million to $80 million deployment for the full year." (Principal Financial Officer & Treasurer Owens)
* Michael Rose, Raymond James: "why... we wouldn't see that guide raise" Robert Harvey: "we did have a meaningful amount of maturities on our CRE book scheduled for the first quarter" and "a large majority of those did not occur"; Duane Dewey: "C&I production pipelines are strong." (Executive VP and Chief Credit & Operations Officer Robert Harvey; President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* Michael Rose, Raymond James: "pickup in NPLs... one loan" Robert Harvey: "it is a CRE project" and "It just moved into nonaccrual" with "an LOI in place." (Executive VP and Chief Credit & Operations Officer Harvey)
* Michael Rose, Raymond James: "updated... thoughts on M&A" Duane Dewey: "No changes" and "we're still interested... in key markets." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* Gary Tenner, D.A. Davidson: "driver" of lower loan yields Robert Harvey: "very competitive" CRE spreads and Thomas Owens: "it's very much mix dependent" with "a very gradual grind higher in terms of NIM." (Executive VP and Chief Credit & Operations Officer Harvey; Principal Financial Officer & Treasurer Owens)
* Gary Tenner, D.A. Davidson: hiring targets Duane Dewey: "third quarter... 21 new production talent" then "13-ish" in Q4 and "in the range of 7 new hires" in Q1, adding "The first quarter is a tough hire quarter." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)
* Christopher Marinac, Brean: commercial deposits Thomas Owens: "we have seen really good acceleration in commercial deposit balances" to "on the high side of 4%." (Principal Financial Officer & Treasurer Owens)
* Stephen Scouten, Piper Sandler: deposit-cost driver Thomas Owens: "that 1.60% guide that you see for the second quarter... is basically where we are running currently" and "month-to-date here in April, we're probably running at about 1.59%." (Principal Financial Officer & Treasurer Owens)
* Feddie Strickland, Hovde: "up, down, sideways" M&A Duane Dewey: "I'm not going to commit one way or the other" and "the discussions out there are pretty significant." (President, CEO & Director Dewey)

SENTIMENT ANALYSIS

* Analysts’ tone was slightly positive and detail-oriented, with repeated modeling questions on margin and deposit costs ("help us model that going forward") and targeted follow-ups on credit and buybacks. (Catherine Mealor, KBW)
* Management tone was slightly positive in prepared remarks ("strong momentum"; "strong performance") and more precise/technical in Q&A, emphasizing stability and small incremental changes ("fractions of a basis point") while flagging uncertainties ("wildcard" in mortgage hedging). (President, CEO & Director Duane Dewey; Principal Financial Officer & Treasurer Thomas Owens)
* Versus Q4 2025, the discussion shifted from highlighting "record earnings in 2025" to reaffirming guidance and defending modeling assumptions ("market implied forwards"), with analysts again concentrating on NIM mechanics, capital return, and M&A optionality. (President, CEO & Director Dewey; Principal Financial Officer & Treasurer Owens)

QUARTER-OVER-QUARTER COMPARISON

* Q1 2026 maintained the same full-year net interest margin range (3.80% to 3.85%) that was introduced in Q4 2025, while loan growth wording moved from "mid-single digits" (Q4 2025) to "single digits" (Q1 2026). (President, CEO & Director Duane Dewey)
* Share repurchase expectations discussed in Q&A moved from a Q4 2025 framing of "$60 million to $70 million" (to manage CET1 levels) to Q1 2026 commentary of "$70 million to $80 million" given first-quarter activity and market conditions. (Principal Financial Officer & Treasurer Thomas Owens)
* Q4 2025 emphasized mortgage improvement ("significant improvement in profitability") while Q1 2026 emphasized mortgage hedging volatility as an earnings swing factor ("negative net hedge ineffectiveness" as a "wildcard"). (President, CEO & Director Dewey)

RISKS AND CONCERNS

* "It is -- it's really remained a competitive environment for deposits" and management highlighted countervailing pricing pressure from "exception pricing on money market accounts." (Principal Financial Officer & Treasurer Thomas Owens)
* CRE runoff/paydown timing remained a key variable, with management citing "headwinds" from scheduled maturities even as many maturities "migrated" later, affecting the path of loan growth. (Executive VP and Chief Credit & Operations Officer Robert Harvey)
* Mortgage-related earnings variability remained a risk factor, with management stating the mortgage business hedging results are difficult to forecast and can create "a fairly significant swing in noninterest income." (President, CEO & Director Duane Dewey)

FINAL TAKEAWAY

Trustmark’s management described Q1 2026 as continuing 2025 momentum, with $56.1 million in net income and stable 3.81% net interest margin, alongside balance-sheet growth and $19.8 million in buybacks. Management reaffirmed full-year guidance, including net interest margin of 3.80% to 3.85% and mid-single-digit growth expectations for net interest income, noninterest income, and noninterest expense, while characterizing deposit competition, CRE payoff timing, and mortgage hedge ineffectiveness as key swing factors. In Q&A, management detailed its expectation for modest NIM accretion, ongoing investments in production talent and technology, and a buyback deployment framework discussed as $70 million to $80 million for 2026, while keeping M&A interest intact but without committing to a specific transaction profile.

Read the full Earnings Call Transcript [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/trmk/earnings/transcripts]

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* Trustmark Corporation 2026 Q1 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4895800-trustmark-corporation-2026-q1-results-earnings-call-presentation]
* Trustmark appoints Owens as COO, Bond as CFO effective May [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4570452-trustmark-appoints-owens-as-coo-bond-as-cfo-effective-may]
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* Historical earnings data for Trustmark [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TRMK/earnings]