50 largest US banks by total assets, Q1 2024

A pair of M&A deals propelled two new entities into the top 50 US bank ranking in the first quarter.

Kansas City, Mo.-based UMB Financial Corp. entered the list taking the 43rd spot after its assets were adjusted higher by $19.13 billion to reflect its pending acquisition of Denver-based Heartland Financial USA Inc. UMB Financial also reported the largest sequential increase in assets within the group, at 46.5%, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

Additionally, Winter Haven, Fla.-based SouthState Corp. secured the 44th spot after its assets were adjusted higher by $18.87 billion to account for its pending purchase of McKinney, Texas-based Independent Bank Group Inc. SouthState logged the second-largest sequential asset increase, at 42.6%.

Largest US bank deals since the end of 2021

UMB Financial's $1.99 billion acquisition of Heartland Financial USA, announced April 29, and SouthState's agreement to acquire Independent Bank Group for $2.02 billion, announced May 20, were the largest US bank M&A deals announced since Bank of Montreal announced its $16.30 billion acquisition of Bank of the West in December 2021.

SouthState earlier acquired Atlanta-based Atlantic Capital Bancshares Inc. for $545.3 million in 2022 and completed a $3.22 billion merger of equals with CenterState Bank Corp. in 2020.

Comfortable crossing $50B

Both deals will comfortably land the acquiring banks above $50 billion in assets, a threshold banks used to be more hesitant to cross. While banks that cross the $50 billion mark are still subject to increased regulatory scrutiny and expenses, a 2018 regulatory rollback softened the blow and led to an increase in banks surging past the mark.

Now bankers are more concerned with the $100 billion threshold and the significant increase in regulation and stress testing that come with it.

To conduct this analysis, S&P Global Market Intelligence examined the largest US banks and thrifts by assets with a deposits-to-assets ratio of at least 25% or at least $30 billion in deposits as of quarter-end.

To compile a pro forma ranking, S&P Global Market Intelligence calculates pro forma assets after accounting for pending M&A transactions as well as transactions that closed after quarter-end. To be included in pro forma adjustments, the deal value must be over $1 billion or involve assets or deposits in excess of $5 billion. Loan portfolio deals are not included because of a general lack of data on both deal consideration and the impact on total assets.

To view an Excel spreadsheet containing the top 50 US banks and thrifts in the first quarter of 2024, click here.

Combined assets of Big 4 banks increase

Aggregate assets at the four largest US banks increased $356.35 billion, or 3.1%, in the first quarter.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest US bank by total assets, reported a sequential increase of $215.33 billion, or 5.6%, while Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. reported sequential asset growth of 2.9%, 0.9% and 1.4%, respectively.

Top gainers and losers

Thirty-seven of the 50 largest US banks and thrifts reported sequential asset growth in the first quarter.

Altogether, the top 50 US banks reported $23.769 trillion in assets as of March 31.

Among the 13 banks that reported a decline in assets, Comerica Inc. logged the highest sequential decrease at 7.4%, followed by Charles Schwab Corp. with a 4.9% decline.

The embattled New York Community Bancorp Inc. reported a sequential decline of 2.9% in assets in the first quarter.

– Download a template to compare a bank's financials to industry aggregate totals. – Read some of the day's top news and insights from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Growth outlook

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence's first-quarter 2024 US Bank Outlook Survey, bankers turned notably more bullish on loan growth, with 77.6% of those surveyed expecting higher balances at their institution over the next 12 months, up from 62.1% from the fourth-quarter 2023 survey and 56.9% in the third-quarter 2023 survey.

In addition, US bank M&A activity is expected to continue its momentum in 2024 with several banks expressing interest in acquiring small and midsize banks even though the dealmaking environment may still be fraught with asset quality headwinds and regulatory uncertainty. More recently, Wintrust Financial Corp. President and CEO Tim Crane said the company will continue evaluating additional M&A opportunities involving banks with total assets between $1 billion to $10 billion after its announced acquisition of Macatawa Bank Corp. Elsewhere, Equity Bancshares Inc. plans to acquire one to five banks per year over the next decade with a focus on small targets in the states where the company already has a presence, founder, Chairman and CEO Brad Elliott said.