Thank you, Gary. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our call today.

Activity levels at Peoples are high, and we focus on a number of strategic priorities. We are working to close the Citizens merger at the end of this month.

We also recently announced the pending acquisition of Capital Bank Corp which we expect to close in 2027. We are excited about these strategic initiatives, and the opportunity to enhance our capabilities, products, services, and company performance as a result of these investments.

Focusing on the present, we continue to be pleased with our consistent and high performing core results as reflected in our third quarter 26 earnings which we released earlier this morning. For the third quarter, we reported diluted earnings per share of $0.91 When adjusted for 1-time items, our diluted EPS for the quarter was $1.04 which exceeded consensus analyst estimates of 93¢.

Our 1-time items for the quarter included a $4.5 million loss on investment securities, which reduced diluted EPS by $0.10. This was part of our planned effort to remain below $10 billion in assets with the pending Citizens merger and acquisition related expenses of $1.5 million which reduced our diluted EPS by $0.03 Some of our highlights for the third quarter include improvements in our net interest income, which was up 1%, expansion in our net interest margin of 8 basis points, growth in our fee based income of 5%.

Provision for credit losses declined 24%. Improvement in our efficiency ratio adjusted for onetime items, higher return on average assets, which was 1.36%, increased return on average stockholders' equity of 10.44%, and declines of 11% in our non-performing loans, growth in our lower cost interest bearing demand deposit and money market accounts of nearly $100 million combined and improved regulatory capital ratios.

Our provision for credit losses declined to $3.6 million, a 24% reduction compared to the second quarter. Our allowance for credit losses to total loans was 1.11%, a 3 basis point decrease compared to June 30.

The reduction in our provision for credit losses for the quarter was due to declines in reserves for individually analyzed loans coupled with updates to our prepayment curtailment and funding rates, partially offset by higher net charge offs. Our annualized quarterly net charge off rate grew to 35 basis points, compared to 31 basis points, for the linked quarter, For the third quarter, we had higher commercial and industrial loan charge offs, along with increases in commercial real estate and consumer indirect loan charge offs.

At the same time, we had a 25% reduction in our lease charge offs. As anticipated, our small ticket lease charge offs have declined throughout 2026.

We remain committed to our small ticket leasing business and see a return to growth coming throughout the year 2027. With a focus on appropriate risk adjusted returns and minimized volatility.

For the third quarter, our nonperforming loans declined $4 million or 11%, compared to the linked quarter end, which was driven by lower nonaccrual loans. Criticized loans decreased $18 million while classified loans grew $30 million.

For the third quarter, we had downgrades of 2 commercial real estate relationships and 1 commercial and industrial relationship, which drove the increase. We do not anticipate significant losses as we are in the process of exiting these credits.

We expect an increase in our criticized and classified loan balances during the fourth quarter as we onboard the loan portfolio from the Citizens merger. Our delinquency levels continue to improve with 99.2% of our loan portfolio considered current at September 30.

Compared to 99.1%, at the linked quarter end. Moving on to loan balances.

We had increases of $19 million or 1%, annualized, compared to June 30. We mentioned on our last quarterly earnings call that we had expected payoffs later in the year that would be a headwind for loan growth and we realized some of that this quarter with commercial payoffs of over $160 million.

We have also been selective with our lending activity as we are strategically managing under the $10 billion mark through year end. Most of our increases in balances was in construction loans, which were up $40 million while commercial and industrial loans and home equity lines of credit grew $34 million and $10 million respectively.

We had reductions of $38 million in our commercial real estate loans, which were due to the aforementioned payoffs. While residential real estate loans declined $14 million and leases were down $12 million.

For the fourth quarter, the Citizens merger is expected to add nearly $350 million of loans before purchase accounting adjustment. I will now turn the call over to Katie for a discussion of our financial performance.

Thanks, Tyler. Our net interest income grew 1%, or $1.1 million while our net interest margin improved 8 basis points.

Increased investment in loan yields contributed to the higher margin while net interest income benefited from higher loan income. Accretion income totaled $1 million compared to $1.1 million for the linked quarter contributing 4 basis points and 5 basis points to net interest margin respectively.

For the first 9 months of 2026, net interest income improved 5%, or $12.8 million Net interest margin expanded 8 basis points over the same period and was mostly attributable to our lower deposit costs. Our interest expense on deposits declined nearly $19 million compared to the first 9 months of 2025.

Accretion income totaled $3.4 million compared to $7.8 million for 2025. Contributing 5 basis points and 12 basis points to net interest margin, respectively.

As it relates to our interest rate exposure, we are relatively neutral to slightly asset sensitive. We have been in this position for several quarters and the 2 pending mergers will not have a meaningful impact on our overall interest rate risk position.

Moving on to our fee based income, we had growth of 5% compared to the linked quarter, driven by higher lease income as well as increases in deposit account service charges trust and investment income, and bank owned life insurance income. For the first 9 months of 2026, fee based income grew 8%.

The improvement was mostly due to increased lease income, trust and investment income, and deposit account service charges. Our noninterest expenses were up 2% compared to the linked quarter.

This included $1.5 million of acquisition related expenses which were largely professional fees. Excluding these expenses, noninterest expenses were flat compared to the second quarter.

For the first 9 months of 2026, noninterest expenses were up 4%. This included $1.9 million of acquisition related expenses.

Which was the primary driver of our higher professional fees. Salaries and employee benefits also contributed to the growth along with operating lease expense.

Which corresponds to our fee based lease income. Our reported efficiency ratio was 58.5% for the third quarter, an increase compared to 58.3% for the linked quarter.

Excluding acquisition related expenses, our efficiency ratio was 57.3% for the third quarter compared to 57.9% for the second quarter. For the first 9 months of 2026, our reported efficiency ratio was 58.5% compared to 59% for the prior year, and was driven by higher revenue.

Excluding acquisition related expenses, our adjusted ratio was 57.9% for 2026 compared to 59% for 2025. Looking at our balance sheet, our investment portfolio as a percentage of total assets declined to 18.3% at quarter end.

Compared to 19.1%, at June 30. We completed another sale of securities as part of our investment portfolio restructuring related to the Citizens merger which resulted in a $4.5 million loss for the quarter on the sale of approximately $59 million of securities.

In addition to providing flexibility to remain under $10 billion, this will also improve the yield of our investment portfolio. Our loan to deposit ratio grew at quarter end to 91.9% compared to 91.5% at the linked quarter end mostly due to lower deposits and some loan growth for the third quarter.

Our core deposit balances, which excludes brokered CDs, were up $19 million compared to June 30. We had significant increases in our interest bearing demand in money market accounts, which were up $52 million and 46 million respectively.

These increases were partially offset by reductions of $44 million in retail CDs and $34 million in non interest bearing accounts. Our demand deposits as a percent of total deposits was flat at 36% for both September 30 and June 30.

Our non interest bearing deposits to total deposits ratio was unchanged at 21%, at quarter end and at June 30. The Citizens merger is expected to add approximately $550 million of deposits for the fourth quarter of 26.

As far as our capital levels, all of our regulatory capital ratios improved compared to the linked quarter end, as earnings outpaced dividends. Our tangible equity to tangible asset ratio declined this quarter and was negatively impacted by increased unrealized losses on our available for sale investment portfolio.

I will now turn the call back over to Tyler for his closing comments.

Thank you, Katie. We are focusing on successfully closing the Citizens merger this month.

While also prioritizing our work on the pending capital merger. These mergers will set the stage for our future strategic growth.

Including expanded market areas within our footprint, improved financial metrics such as higher net interest margin and lower efficiency ratio, and the ability for our associates to have more meaningful conversations with existing and new clients about the diversified products and services we provide. For the fourth quarter and full year of 2026, have the following performance expectations excluding the impact of noncore expenses, but including our Citizens merger.

We expect to achieve positive operating leverage for 2026 compared to 2025 We anticipate our net interest margin will be between 4.2-4.3% for the full year of 2026. We believe our quarterly fee based income will range between $28 million and $30 million We expect quarterly total non interest expense to be between $78 and $80 million.

We believe loan growth will be between 2% to 8% for 2026 compared to 2025. Which includes the acquired loans from Citizens.

We continue to anticipate a reduction in our net charge offs for 2026 compared to 2025, which we expect to continue to positively impact the provision for credit losses excluding any changes in the economic forecasts. We expect between $11 million and $13 million of acquisition related expenses during the fourth quarter for the Citizens merger.

We would also like to provide some high level expectations for 2027 excluding the impact of non core expenses and the planned capital merger. We expect to achieve positive operating leverage for 2027, compared to 2026.

For the full year of 2027, we anticipate our net interest margin will be between 4.3-4.5%. This assumes a 25 basis point increase in rates from the Federal Reserve in late 2026, 1 in March 2027, and another in September 2027.

We believe our quarterly fee based income will range between $31 and $33 million Our first quarter fee based income is typically elevated as it includes annual performance based insurance commissions. We expect quarterly total noninterest expense to be between $80 million and $82 million for the second, third, and fourth quarters of 27 with the first quarter of 27 being higher due to the annual expenses we typically recognize during the first quarter of each year.

We believe our loan growth will be between 3% to 5% compared to 2026 which is dependent on the timing of paydowns on our portfolio. We anticipate similar charge offs and net charge off rate for 2027 compared to 2026 which includes projected increases related to the addition of the Citizens portfolio.

We look to have a strong close to our 2026 performance and continue to be optimistic about our strategic plans and ability to execute on the pending mergers and future growth. Laying out a path beyond the $10 billion threshold is the culmination of years of strategic planning and patience.

The investments we have made in people, technology, and infrastructure are in place today and operating as if we have already crossed that milestone. We have proven our ability to provide reliable results for our shareholders and improve performance both organically and through acquisitions.

We will continue to place importance on the value we provide as an investment to our shareholders and the return that we produce. We will focus on being a top notch employer and sharing our culture with our new associates from our mergers.

We will make meaningful investments in the communities we serve and provide high quality trusted solutions for all of our clients. This concludes our commentary, and we will open the call for questions.

Once again, this is Tyler J. Wilcox and joining me for the Q and A session is Katie Bailey, our Chief Financial Officer.

I will now turn the call back into the hands of our call facilitator.

This is Ryan Payne on for Jeff Rulis today. Heard you on the expected Citizens Close later this month.

Any update on close timing for capital next year?

Yes. Our expectation is sometime very end of first quarter, beginning of second quarter.

Got it. And on the security sale, maybe some more detail on that.

What was the timing of that during the quarter? Yield on those securities?

And as well as the expected impact on NIM going forward?

Yeah. So it happened in August.

And the yield on the amount we sold was about 1.5%. And the impact to margin on a go forward, I think was the third part of your question.

I think we expect a slight increase of a few basis points.

Last from me, Durbin Impact. We last heard an $11 million annual hit to those fees beginning July 2028.

Wanted to confirm that or if anything has changed there.

No. that is still the number.

And, again, as a reminder, we noted in the capital announcement that they have minimal impact to our Durbin. And to interchange income, so the number has not really changed.

Understood. Thanks, guys.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ryan.

Hey, good morning, Tyler. Good morning, Katie.

Just filling in for Daniel this morning.

Hey. Morning.

Hey, Tyler.

Maybe starting off on loan growth, Growth is obviously relatively modest this quarter. You kind of laid out some of the factors that played in there and kind of laid out the 3% to 5% target for next year.

Just curious how the commercial pipelines are looking today, where you are seeing the drivers of growth coming from in the near term. And whether you are expecting some of those payoff headwinds to start easing as we move into 2027 here?

Thanks for the question. My hope is yes.

We will see some of that easing. Let me lay out a few thoughts for you.

As to demand. This was actually our third highest quarter ever of commercial production, and I really like the mix shift into C&I that we have seen throughout the year.

And so demand remains really positive. For reference, we expected this year, about $480 million in payoffs.

And through 3 quarters, we have seen about 460 million in payoffs. The vast majority of that, about 40% is via sales of primarily of multifamily.

Projects that. Which says that there is a high demand for the high quality stuff that our folks are producing.

And for the remainder of the year, there is probably about a $150 to $180 million of expected forecasted payoffs. And whether that materializes in the fourth quarter or materializes kind of or pushes into the first quarter is 1 of the main questions weighing on that loan growth for the forward guidance.

So did I miss anything in your question there?

No. No.

I. No.

That was very helpful color. I appreciate that.

And, you know, maybe, Katie, just, you know, flipping over to the margin, we appreciate the guidance for 2027. With the increases that you guys are assuming for next year, just curious about how you are thinking about what we should expect for betas on the deposit side.

That should be factored into the 2027 guide.

Yeah. Noninterest or nonmaturity beta is inclusive of Noninterest bearing is about 30%.

Okay. Appreciate that.

And then maybe just finishing up, you know, just, Tyler, maybe 1 on credit. Outside of the few relationships you highlighted in the presentations, you know, are you seeing any meaningful changes in credit trends across broader commercial portfolio or any particular areas you keeping your eye on more closely with the recent move in rates?

No. Not so far.

Thankfully, you know, commercial credit remains very strong. You know, last quarter, we were talking about the, you know, increase in criticized.

that is come down. Now we see the slight increase in classified.

As we guided, we expect those to, you know, pay off and the bank and with minimal losses. So the core commercial credit remains incredibly strong.

The significant reduction in the small ticket leasing is also, you know, extremely positive. I would say the 1 area where we have seen a slight increase in delinquency on the indirect portfolio as I think there is some pressure on consumers in that area, which is also weighing on the production with interest rates and fuel prices increasing.

So that is an area where we are watching, but we continue to you know, generate, that production at near 57 credit scores consistent with our past practices. So very cautiously optimistic on credit overall and particularly in the commercial space.

Okay. Well, that is terrific color, guys.

I will step back. Thank you.

Hi, good morning. This is Adam Kroll on for Nathan.

Good morning, Tyler and Katie, and thanks for taking my questions.

Yeah. Good

Maybe for Tyler to start. I know the loan growth guide excludes capital, but they have historically been a pretty high growth franchise.

I guess I would be curious if there any transition period after the deal closes? Where maybe growth is a little softer or just any color there.

Thanks.

I would say as to capital, 1 of the most exciting things to me is the level of mutual engagement that we have with the capital team and the capital leadership particularly. And a big part of that is obviously the continuity for their bankers, their clients, and you know, their entire organization of our intent to you know, continue the things that they are doing that made them attractive purchase in the first place.

So I do not anticipate any kind of trough because the, you know, the lead in of the next you know, 4, 5, 6 months of engagement together That includes our bankers, our credit staff, their leadership, their bankers, and their clients is, you know, mutually committed to continuing what it is they do. So we do expect that their historically higher growth rates than ours are something that we can perpetuate and is part of what makes the deal appealing.

Got it. I appreciate the color there.

And, Tyler, I think you-- On the last call, you mentioned small ticket leasing could potentially begin to grow again in 27. Is that still the case?

And is any of that contemplated in the NIM guide that you guys

It is. it is baked in as part of our of our forecast.

And we do believe it will grow. Now it is not going to grow at double digits and the growth I think will be more heavily weighted to the second half of the year.

You know, growing off of the now $100 million portfolio. But we have the right sales team.

We have the right and we have the right credit box now that we have tested out. To ensure that we grow in a positive way that we think can really impact and let it start punching above its weight again which is the reason why we are excited about the future of that business.

Got it. Maybe 1 last 1 for me.

Katie, I would be curious to hear how we should think about provisioning in 2027. Just given the likely step up in the reserve with the capital deal and just maybe longer term where you see the reserve kind of settling out?

Yeah. I mean, I think to your point, I think the last couple quarters have been pretty nice from a provision perspective.

I expect we get elevated from here. I think the coverage ratio, which is how I call it, the allowance to total loans, right now, we are at 1.11%,.

I think we get, you know, to stay in that range, go up to maybe 1.2% over time. With capital coming on board.

So that is where I would see us progress against citizens will not have any material impact to that ratio, but capital, when it comes on board, will help stabilize that.

Got it. Thanks for taking my questions.

No problem. Thanks.

Thank you.

Hey, good morning folks. Thanks for taking the questions.

No problem, Brendan.

Maybe starting off here, just kind of on prepping the balance sheet for year end. Are there any other security sales that need to take place to stay under $10 billion And I think you initially were contemplating like, $300 million.

Well, as we articulated, with the Citizens acquisition closing here later this month, we will sell a majority of their portfolio at close or very near to close. As it relates to any more of our portfolio that we will sell, will just be dependent on how we transition through the remainder of the year and where we are from an asset size.

You know, we might take another $2 to $3 million loss in the fourth quarter, but we will just continue to evaluate the market and evaluate our assets size as we proceed through the remainder of the fourth quarter.

Yep. Okay.

that is perfect. Then maybe turning to the margin.

You just narrow down kind of the NIM that you are expecting to see next quarter? there is a lot of moving pieces with kind of movement in the Peoples and Citizens security books and then their impact on both the core margin and, you know, fair value market accretion.

Yes. So I think in the next quarter, we could see, going to project somewhere in the 8 to 10 basis point lift with the addition of Citizens, again, given the securities restructure we just talked about, their portfolio, and then just the deposit franchise that makes that organization very attractive.

Okay. Alright.

Awesome. Thanks, Katie.

Moving on a kind of related note, just thinking about your rate positioning. If I think back to last quarter, I think you folks said that each 25 basis point hike was 6 to 8 basis points of margin improvement.

And that reads to me as being fairly asset sensitive. But it kind of sounds like now you are more neutral to only slightly asset sensitive.

So I am wondering what changed over the past couple of months.

Yeah. Think that number I mean, it ebbs and flows with each rate increase.

It varies a little bit, but I think that 25 basis points now, I think we would quantify at about 5 basis points of benefit to us. And so I think it is I mean, we could debate whether that is significantly asset sensitive or slightly, but that is where the new number is.

Yeah.

Yeah. Okay.

That. that is fair and also helpful.

Okay. Thanks for taking my questions.

Thanks, Brendan.

Hey, good morning.

Morning, Matthew.

You know, just thinking about your loan growth guide for next year, could you give us some idea on what it contemplates for commercial real estate and leasing growth And if it does include positive growth in those segments, you know, what type of growth are you anticipating?

Yes, I think overall commercial growth is about 5% or so, 1 of the main drivers. The leasing overall growth is probably about 6% to 7%.

The kind of drag on the loan growth is going to be, you know, kinda coming from our expectations on the consumer book in a rising rate environment. You know, we are not seeing the refi business on the residential indirect has slowed down a bit, and so that is kind of the outlook on those pieces.

I will say the growth as well in commercial. Probably a little bit more weighted to the C&I as opposed to the CRE.

But still good CRE growth.

Okay. So you do anticipate positive commercial real estate growth next year?

We do.

Okay.

It is a bit of running on a treadmill as I noted because of the heavy weighting to the, you know, the sales and the payoffs in that space particularly.

Yep. And then, Katie, just thinking about the 27 NIM guide, but including capital.

You know, if I go back to the deal deck, I think it suggested a 5% NIM or higher. Could you talk about that in the context of the updated 27 NIM guide on the stand alone and whether or not that 5% still holds and what would put you at the upper versus the lower end.

Well, I think with it not being in-- Capital not closing until probably. Let's say, early in the second quarter end of the first quarter, we will not have the benefit of that in the first quarter.

So the full year guide with that, with capital in next year, I do not think we would get to the 5%. I said once they are in our numbers on a quarterly basis, I think we will approach 5-- be at 5 or slightly around the 5% rate.

That we previously quoted. So for the full year, I do not think we will get to 5.

In 2027.

Right. But you will be in and around 5% with them and beyond.

Fair?

Correct. Correct.

Okay. And I hate to pig pile on the $10 billion question.

But you do have some excess cash at the end of the quarter as well. I am curious how you see kind of the cash and securities components playing out as you pull the levers and stay below $10 billion by year end?

Yes. I think you will see our cash position decrease over time.

I think some of that is just on balance sheet liquidity as we approach the end of the quarter. Given the securities portfolio is was smaller I think you will see it diminish especially as we kind of manage through year end.

Okay. that is all I had.

I will leave it there. Thank you.

Thank you.

This is Emily Lee stepping in for Tim Switzer. Thanks for taking my question.

Sure. Good morning.

So just to go back to the NIM, I was just wondering what was the exit margin in Q3. And how are deposit rates looking at the end of the quarter too?

Exit monthly. The exit margin on the quarter was a little higher than where we reported for the full quarter.

Accretion was a similar impact for the month. Of September as it was for the quarter.

So I think we had a slight benefit call it, 5 to 8 basis points as we exited from where we reported for the full quarter. As it relates to deposits, I think we are starting to see some more competition in the market deposits, and I think we will continue to see that as this rate outlook plays out and as we start to see rates potentially move upward.

And so we have been slowly following that trend, and we will continue to actively manage it as we have been in the past. And that will continue to likely come through our CD pricing product.

Understood. Very helpful.

And then what does guidance imply for expenses of capital once all the cost saves are achieved? So basically, it is the run rate for Q4 2027.

So the full cost saves for capital will not be realized in 2027. They will not be realized until fully realized until 2028.

Okay. Okay.

Thank you. that is all for me.

Thank you. Thank you.

Hey. Hey, folks.

1 more for me on kind of expenses. I was trying to bridge the gap from you know, this quarter's $73 million in core expenses to the first quarter number at the higher end of your 80 million to $82 million range.

And I am asking because it looks like Citizens is running like $4.5 million on costs So, you know, 73 and $4.5 million gets you to, like, 77.5. So kind of where does that other, you know, several million dollars kind of come from in the updated expense outlook for both 4Q 2026 and then 1Q 2027?

A couple of things. I think Q3, we were a little lighter than we anticipated.

I think some of that was just the timing that we will see move into the fourth quarter. And again, therefore, starting at the 73%, I think you are starting off a little light.

A million, call it. For a round number I think then you have the annual increase in predominantly our largest expense item as it relates to salaries and benefits and I think we are seeing meaningful increase in benefit cost expectations for 27 over 26.

I would say those are the big factors that are probably influencing that number higher than where you just quoted, Brendan.

Yep. Yep.

Okay. that is that is helpful color.

Thank you. Thank you.

Just follow-up for me on the fee income guide for the fourth quarter. It looks like it takes a slight step down at the midpoint of $29 million.

Even with the contribution from Citizens. So I guess I would be curious.

Is that just from lower lease income or any color on the primary drivers there?

Yeah. I think you had it.

I think it is lease income. As we have quoted over time, that is a little bit of a volatile-- creates volatility in the fee income when it relates to lease income as we can have some end of term transactions that result in some gains that are reflected in that number on a quarterly basis.

And I think you see that to the tune of a $1 million, $1.5 million in the third quarter. So I think that run rate was a little elevated versus the trend in Q3.

And that is the biggest Got it. Variance, I would say.

Got it. Thanks, Katie.

Thank you.

Yes. I wanna thank everyone for joining our call this morning.

Please remember that our earnings release and webcast of this call, including our earnings conference call presentation, will be archived at peoplesbancorp.com under the Investor Relations section. Thank you for your time, and have a great day.