Origin Bancorp’s fourth-quarter 2026 outlook sets net interest margin guidance at 4.00%, plus or minus five basis points, alongside a high-single-digit loan-growth target for 2026. Executives said on an Oct. 29 call that competition could push the margin below 4%. The guidance range is 3.95% to 4.05%.
The company’s presentation assumes another 25-basis-point Federal Reserve rate increase in December 2026. That is a modeling assumption in the outlook. Origin reported a fully tax-equivalent net interest margin of 3.94% for the third quarter, up two basis points from the previous quarter.
For full-year 2026, Origin projects low-double-digit growth in net interest income. Its high-single-digit loan-growth target excludes mortgage warehouse lending, a separate category of lending. Lance Hall, president and CEO of Origin Bank, said the bank expects a similar loan-growth pace in 2027.
Hall said the bank had declined opportunities when the expected returns did not justify the pricing. CFO Wally Wallace said competitive pressure could bring the margin below 4%; Hall described competition in both loan and deposit pricing.
Management also said floating-rate loans reprice faster than deposits. On the call, it cited deposit betas of 70% in a prior rate-cut cycle and 55% in an earlier rate-hike cycle. Those figures were presented as examples from past rate cycles, while the current margin guidance reflects the company’s fourth-quarter outlook.
