DBRS, Inc. (Morningstar DBRS) confirmed EverBank Financial Corp's (EBFC or the Company) credit ratings, including its Long-Term Issuer Rating of BBB (high) with a Stable trend.
Additionally, Morningstar DBRS confirmed the credit ratings on the Company's subsidiary, EverBank, N.A. (the Bank), including its Long-Term Issuer Rating of A (low) with a Stable trend. The Intrinsic Assessment (IA) for the Bank is 'a (low)' while the Support Assessment is SA1, reflecting the expectation of internal support provided by the Company. The Company's Support Assessment is SA3, meaning that timely systemic support is not expected. The Company's Long-Term Issuer Rating is positioned one notch below the IA.
KEY CREDIT RATING CONSIDERATIONS
EBFC's credit ratings reflect its growing commercial banking franchise, well-established digital bank, strong asset quality metrics driven by its conservative credit culture, and ample on balance sheet liquidity. The credit ratings also consider the Company's evolving strategic direction with an increasing emphasis on commercial lending. While making progress, profitability metrics remain below some peer comparisons as the Company undertakes this business model transformation. The Company has maintained strong expense discipline as well as low loan loss provisioning needs as asset quality remains solid, and loan growth has slowed. Conversely, funding costs remain higher than many peers, reflecting the Company's funding mix.
The Bank's IA of 'a (low)' is at the midpoint of the IA Range, as Morningstar DBRS views EBFC's credit fundamentals and performance as commensurate with those of similarly rated peers.
CREDIT RATING DRIVERS
Increased diversity and scale leading to a sustained improvement in profitability metrics, while maintaining similar balance sheet fundamentals, would lead to a credit ratings upgrade. Conversely, a sustained weakening in profitability or asset quality would lead to a downgrade of the credit ratings.
CREDIT RATING RATIONALE
Franchise Combined Building Block Assessment: Good/Moderate
EBFC is a financial holding company and conducts its operations largely through the Bank. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, EBFC has operations in California, New York, New Jersey, Missouri, North Carolina, Illinois and Texas as well as some businesses with a national scope, including deposit gathering. The Company's franchise is evolving as it emphasizes more commercial banking. While EBFC is primarily a digital deposit gatherer, its earlier acquisition of Sterling Bank and Trust, F.S.B. plus the opening of de novo branches have built the branch network to 39 branches, including 28 branches in California, 10 branches in Florida and one branch in New York.
Earnings Combined Building Block Assessment: Good/Moderate
EBFC's earnings metrics are slightly below some peer comparisons but are on an improving trajectory, with expectations for further improvement as the Company executes on its strategic plan. EBFC is reliant on spread income, with noninterest income representing just 8% of revenues for H1 2026. However, the Company is efficient owing partially to its light branch footprint. For H1 2026 and on an adjusted basis, EBFC reported a return on equity and return on assets of 12.0% and 0.96%, respectively, along with an efficiency ratio of 53%.
Risk Combined Building Block Assessment: Good
EBFC has historically maintained pristine asset quality, partially due to its disciplined credit culture and a large percentage of the loan book being in high-quality residential mortgages. As the Company transitions to being a more commercially focused bank, asset quality metrics will likely weaken from historical norms. However, to date asset quality has remained strong with NPLs representing 0.56% of total loans as of June 30, 2026, in line with recent performance and in a manageable range. Positively, the net charge-off rate continues to be lower than many peers and was just two basis points (bps) for Q2 2026.
Funding and Liquidity Combined Building Block Assessment: Good
The Company is primarily core deposit funded with its well-established digital bank being a steady source of deposit acquisition. Additionally, EBFC maintains a high level of on balance sheet liquidity, with cash and securities accounting for approximately 20% of total assets as of June 30, 2026. The deposit franchise is becoming more diversified as EBFC adds to its branch footprint and builds out its commercial banking franchise. The Company has used brokered deposits but is not overly reliant on this funding source. Total deposits are primarily (86%) Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insured, reducing potential liquidity events in times of industry stress.
Capitalization Combined Building Block Assessment: Good/Moderate
EBFC had a CET1 ratio of 10.2% as of June 30, 2026, easily above the 7% regulatory requirement and slightly above the Company's targeted operating range of 9% to 10%. Additionally, all bank level regulatory capital ratios are in or above their targeted operating ranges. Unlike many bank peers, EBFC continues to show a positive accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) balance. As such, AOCI would not be a drag on regulatory capital if it was included. The Company uses common stock dividends to reward shareholders and manage capital levels.
Further details on the Scorecard Indicators and Building Block Assessments can be found at https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/486428.
ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE CONSIDERATIONS
There were no Environmental/Social/Governance factor(s) that had a significant or relevant effect on the credit analysis.
A description of how Morningstar DBRS considers ESG factors within the Morningstar DBRS analytical framework can be found in the Morningstar DBRS Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors in Credit Ratings (July 20, 2026) https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/485522.
Notes:
All figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.
The principal methodology is the Global Methodology for Rating Banks and Banking Organisations (July 06, 2026) https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/484670. In addition, Morningstar DBRS uses the Morningstar DBRS Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors in Credit Ratings (July 20, 2026) https://dbrs.morningstar.com/research/485522 in its consideration of ESG factors.
The credit rating methodologies used in the analysis of this transaction can be found at: https://dbrs.morningstar.com/about/methodologies.
The primary sources of information used for these credit ratings include Morningstar Inc. and company documents. Morningstar DBRS considers the information available to it for the purpose of providing these credit ratings was of satisfactory quality.
The credit rating was initiated at the request of the rated entity.
The rated entity or its related entities did participate in the credit rating process for this credit rating action.
Morningstar DBRS had access to the accounts, management and other relevant internal documents of the rated entity or its related entities in connection with this credit rating action.
This is a solicited credit rating.
For more information on Morningstar DBRS' policy regarding the solicitation status of credit ratings, please refer to the Credit Ratings Global Policy, which can be found in the Morningstar DBRS Understanding Ratings section of the website: https://dbrs.morningstar.com/understanding-ratings
The conditions that lead to the assignment of a Negative or Positive trend are generally resolved within a 12-month period. Morningstar DBRS's trends and credit ratings are under regular surveillance.
For more information on this credit or on this industry, visit https://dbrs.morningstar.com.
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