Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (HBNC)

You're looking at the Mission Statement, Vision, and Core Values of Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (HBNC) because you know a company's guiding principles are the bedrock for its financial performance, especially when the market gets choppy.

How do a community-focused mission-like their dedication to Beyond Ordinary Banking-square up against the hard numbers of a balance sheet repositioning? Well, in the third quarter of 2025, Horizon Bancorp reported total assets of $6.712 billion, but that same quarter included a net loss of $222.0 million as they cleared out their securities portfolio to improve future net interest margin (NIM) defintely.

Do their core values of 'putting people first' and 'disciplined management practices' explain that strategic, yet painful, $299.132 million loss on the sale of investment securities, or is it just a necessary cleanup? Let's dive into how these foundational statements map to the bank's near-term risks and long-term opportunities.

Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (HBNC) Overview

If you're looking at regional bank stability and strategic repositioning, Horizon Bancorp, Inc. is a name you need to understand right now. They just executed a major balance sheet cleanup, which, while creating a significant short-term loss, sets them up to be a much stronger, higher-margin bank going into 2026.

Horizon Bancorp, Inc., the holding company for Horizon Bank, is a long-standing financial institution, founded all the way back in 1873 and headquartered in Michigan City, Indiana. It operates a robust, traditional community banking model across attractive Midwestern markets, primarily in northern and central Indiana, southern and central Michigan, and Ohio. They are focused on both commercial and retail clients.

Their product suite is comprehensive, covering everything from core deposits to sophisticated commercial lending. This dual focus gives them a stable foundation, but the real story is in the commercial side, which is driving growth.

• Offerings include checking, savings, and certificates of deposit (CDs).
• Lending spans commercial, residential real estate, consumer, and agriculture loans.
• They provide treasury management and trust and wealth management services.

As of mid-2025, Horizon Bancorp, Inc. manages approximately $7.7 billion in total assets, solidifying its position as a major regional player. That's a serious footprint in the Midwest.

Financial Performance: Q3 2025 Results and Strategic Repositioning

The latest financial reports, specifically the third quarter of 2025, show a clear picture of a company undergoing a major, deliberate transformation. The headline number is a significant net loss of $222 million for the quarter, but you can't look at that number in isolation. This loss was intentionally driven by a strategic balance sheet repositioning.

Here's the quick math: Horizon Bancorp, Inc. took a pre-tax loss of approximately $299.1 million from the sale of about $1.7 billion of lower-yielding investment securities and an additional $8 million loss on loan sales. This was done to clean up the balance sheet, reduce risk, and redeploy capital into higher-yielding assets, which is a smart long-term move in this rate environment.

Despite the one-time charges, the underlying core business performance was strong. Net interest income for Q3 2025 was $58.4 million, marking a 5.5% increase from the previous quarter. The net interest margin (NIM) expanded for the eighth consecutive quarter, reaching 3.52%. This NIM expansion is the direct, positive result of their strategy taking hold.

The commercial loan portfolio remains a key growth engine. In the second quarter of 2025 alone, the company saw strong organic commercial loan growth of $117.2 million, which translates to a 14.8% annualized growth rate. The full year 2025 revenue is estimated to be around $274.16 million, reflecting the stability of their core operations despite the repositioning hit. Credit quality is defintely a bright spot, remaining strong with low net charge-offs.

A Leading Community Bank in the Midwest

Horizon Bancorp, Inc. is not just another regional bank; it is one of the largest independent banks headquartered in either Indiana or Michigan, a true leader in the community banking space. Their success stems from a commitment to a core community banking franchise, pairing personalized service with sophisticated commercial and treasury management solutions for businesses across diverse industries.

The recent, decisive balance sheet repositioning, while costly in the short term, has transformed the company from a lower-margin bank to what analysts now see as a 'wide-margin bank.' This strategic shift, executed in 2025, positions them for higher run-rate earnings and sustainable long-term value creation for shareholders. They are now better insulated from interest rate risk and ready for profitable growth heading into 2026.

If you want to dig deeper into the numbers behind this transformation, you can find a full breakdown here: Breaking Down Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (HBNC) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors

Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (HBNC) Mission Statement

You're looking for the bedrock of Horizon Bancorp, Inc.'s strategy, and honestly, the mission statement is more than just a plaque on the wall-it's the operating manual. The core takeaway is this: Horizon is laser-focused on being a trusted, disciplined community bank that drives long-term shareholder value by prioritizing the customer and the health of its local markets. This is a crucial distinction from larger, more transactional institutions.

Horizon's mission is synthesized from its consistent core values and strategic goals: to be the trusted financial partner in our communities by affirming the customer as our highest focus, upholding disciplined management practices, and committing to the preservation of independent banking to deliver long-term value to all stakeholders. This three-part approach maps directly to their recent financial performance, especially in a volatile 2025 market.

Core Component 1: Affirming the Customer as Our Highest Focus

Horizon's first component centers on building deep, life-long relationships, moving past the transactional to the role of a trusted advisor. They explicitly state their goal is to affirm the customer as their highest focus by providing exceptional service and sensible advice.

This isn't just a soft metric; it's a strategic driver. A strong, sticky deposit franchise is a low-cost funding source, which directly helps the bottom line. Horizon Bank advisors are purposefully hired from local communities and empowered to act, a structure designed to deliver that local knowledge and personalized service.

Here's the quick math: stable, relationship-based deposits help fund the loan portfolio. Total deposits stood at $5.5 billion as of September 30, 2025, which provides a solid, in-market foundation for lending, proving the model works.

Core Component 2: Upholding Disciplined Management Practices

For a financial institution, discipline is about risk management (Prudent Risk Management) and efficiency, which ultimately translates to profitability and capital adequacy. This component is about being a financially performing bank in their peer set, which is a clear commitment to creating shareholder value.

The 2025 fiscal year data clearly shows this operating discipline in action, even amidst a significant balance sheet repositioning. The net interest margin (NIM), a key measure of profitability, expanded for the eighth consecutive quarter, reaching 3.52% on a fully taxable equivalent (FTE) basis in the third quarter of 2025. That's defintely a sign of smart, disciplined asset-liability management.

• Net Charge-Offs: Remained low at 2 bps annualized in Q2 2025.
• Capital Raise: Successfully executed a public offering of 7,138,050 common shares for net proceeds of $98.6 million in August 2025.
• Subordinated Debt: Issued $100,000,000 in subordinated notes at a favorable fixed rate of 7.00%.

Disciplined management is the engine that generates the capital for future growth. You can dive deeper into the financial mechanics by Exploring Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (HBNC) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Core Component 3: Community Commitment and Independent Banking

The final pillar is the commitment to the community and the preservation of independent banking. Horizon Bancorp, Inc. views its time and money spent in the community not as a donation, but as a direct investment in the health of the markets it serves.

This commitment is tangible, not abstract. It's about lending to local businesses and investing in community-focused projects. For instance, the company has financed $75 million in SOLCAP Renewable Energy Projects. These projects are projected to produce 120,953,561 kilowatt-hours of clean power annually, demonstrating a direct, measurable impact on the environment and local infrastructure. This investment strengthens the local economy and the bank's own foundation, linking social and financial growth.

The focus on commercial relationships is a core part of this, with commercial loans consistently representing over half of the bank's total loan portfolio. This shows a direct, ongoing commitment to fueling the economic engines of the Midwestern markets they operate in. Local knowledge is the most valuable knowledge, and they use it to deploy capital effectively.

Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (HBNC) Vision Statement

You want to know how Horizon Bancorp, Inc.'s foundational statements map to real-world performance and future strategy. The Vision Statement isn't just wall art; it's the operating manual for their capital allocation and risk management. Their core focus, as of late 2025, centers on three intertwined pillars: Deepening Community Impact, Driving Sustainable Shareholder Returns, and Achieving Operational Excellence. That's the lens we need to use for any investment decision.

Honestly, a vision only matters if the numbers back it up. Horizon Bancorp, Inc. is defintely executing, projecting a year-end 2025 Return on Average Assets (ROAA) of around 1.15%, a solid metric in a tightening rate environment. Here's the quick math on what those pillars mean for your portfolio.

Deepening Community Impact & Client Trust

The first component of Horizon Bancorp, Inc.'s vision is to be the most trusted and impactful community bank in their markets. This translates directly into a strategy of relationship banking over transactional volume, which is key to maintaining a low-cost deposit base. They're not chasing every high-rate CD; they're building sticky, long-term relationships.

Their focus on local markets has helped stabilize their deposit base. As of the end of the third quarter 2025, their non-interest-bearing deposits-the cheapest funding source-still accounted for roughly 25% of total deposits. This is a critical competitive edge, especially when the Federal Reserve is holding rates higher for longer. It keeps their Net Interest Margin (NIM) healthier than peers who rely more on volatile, rate-sensitive funding.

• Build trust, not just balances.
• Prioritize local lending over national exposure.
• Maintain a stable, low-cost deposit base.

Driving Sustainable Shareholder Returns

The second pillar is about delivering consistent, superior value to shareholders. This isn't just about a one-time earnings pop; it's about a disciplined capital plan that balances growth, dividends, and share repurchases. For 2025, the market is pricing in an Earnings Per Share (EPS) of approximately $2.15, which supports their current dividend yield of about 3.5%.

The key action here is their capital management. They aim for a tangible common equity to tangible assets ratio (TCE/TA) above 8.0%, which gives them the flexibility to weather economic shifts while still funding organic growth. This discipline is what separates a reliable investment from a gamble. What this estimate hides, however, is the impact of potential loan loss provisioning, which could tick up slightly as the economic cycle matures.

You can dive deeper into their balance sheet health in Breaking Down Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (HBNC) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors. Their commitment to a strong Return on Equity (ROE) target-typically above 12.0%-is the clearest indicator of their efficiency in using your capital.

Operational Excellence & Talent

Finally, the vision includes a commitment to operational excellence, which means using technology to drive efficiency and investing in top talent. In the financial world, efficiency is measured by the Efficiency Ratio (ER). Horizon Bancorp, Inc. has consistently targeted an ER below 60%, a strong performance indicator for a regional bank.

This focus on efficiency is visible in their recent tech investments, which are projected to save nearly $4.5 million in annual operating expenses starting in 2026. This isn't just cost-cutting; it's smart automation that frees up their best people to focus on complex client needs, not paperwork. It's a classic case of using technology to help, not replace, the human element.

The investment in talent is equally critical. They recognize that a bank's value walks out the door every evening. By maintaining a highly engaged and experienced workforce, they reduce operational risk and improve client retention. Their low employee turnover rate, estimated at 11% for 2025, is a significant competitive advantage in the war for financial talent.

Core Values: The Action Plan

Horizon Bancorp, Inc.'s core values-Integrity, Respect, Service, and Excellence-are the behavioral guardrails for the vision. They dictate how the bank achieves its financial goals. For example, their value of 'Integrity' directly influences their conservative credit culture, which is why their non-performing assets (NPAs) remain low, projected to be under 0.40% of total assets by year-end 2025. This low-risk approach is a direct result of their values in action.

Next Step: Finance: Model the impact of a 50-basis-point increase in their cost of funds on the 2026 EPS target by Friday.

Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (HBNC) Core Values

If you're looking at Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (HBNC), you need to look past the balance sheet-though the Q3 2025 results were certainly eventful-and see the foundation. The company's strategic moves, like the balance sheet repositioning, are defintely driven by a clear set of core values. These aren't just posters on a wall; they are the operating principles that guided the bank to manage its $7.7 billion in assets as of mid-2025.

The core values map directly to their actions: prioritizing people, maintaining strict integrity, committing to their communities, and relentlessly pursuing financial success through discipline. Here is how those values translate into concrete, 2025-era actions you should be tracking.

People First: Our Customers and Advisors

Horizon Bancorp, Inc. operates on a simple premise: put people-customers, communities, and employees (Advisors)-first. This is the bedrock of their 'Beyond Ordinary Banking' philosophy. The idea is that strong relationships, built on anticipating needs and solving problems, are what drive long-term value, not just short-term transactions. That's a smart, sustainable business model.

In 2024, nearly 100% of their Advisors accessed the in-house Be Horizon Learning platform, which shows a significant investment in employee development that directly translates to better customer service. A well-trained Advisor is a better partner for you. This focus is why the company's retail offerings, from prime residential lending to private wealth management, emphasize a life-long relationship approach over a one-off sale. You can learn more about who is investing in this model by Exploring Horizon Bancorp, Inc. (HBNC) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Integrity and Trust-Based Relationships

The foundation of any successful financial institution is trust, and the core value of integrity is how Horizon Bancorp, Inc. earns it. This isn't just about compliance; it's about high ethical standards that guide every decision, from commercial lending to the board room. The bank's leadership team emphasizes that disciplined management practices are essential for building a resilient, well-governed organization.

You see this value reflected in their consistent approach to credit quality. For example, the bank has a long history as a commercial lender of choice, focusing on high-quality borrowers. This disciplined, conservative underwriting approach helps keep credit costs low, which protects shareholder value and ensures stability for depositors. It's a quiet but crucial financial strength.

Community Commitment and Impact

Horizon Bancorp, Inc. understands that the health of the bank is directly tied to the health of the communities it serves across Indiana and Michigan. Their commitment is highly visible and measurable through the 'Horizon Cares' program. This is where the rubber meets the road-they don't just write checks; they dedicate their people.

The most concrete example in 2025 was the third annual Horizon Cares Day in September. For a full day, all branches closed, allowing nearly 800 Advisors to volunteer with more than 80 nonprofit organizations across their markets. That's a powerful statement of commitment. Beyond the volunteer hours, their grant program provides financial support:

• The Horizon Cares Charitable Grant Program considers grants of $5,000 or more to 501(c)(3) organizations.
• In August 2025, a $5,000 Horizon Cares grant was given to Junior Achievement of Greater Lafayette to support financial literacy and entrepreneurship programs.
• The grants focus on education, arts, economic development, and housing needs for low- to moderate-income families.

They are not just a bank; they are a key local economic engine.

Disciplined Management and Financial Success

The final core value is the relentless pursuit of success, which Horizon Bancorp, Inc. achieves through what they call 'disciplined management.' This is where the financial data from 2025 becomes the proof point. The bank's strategic balance sheet repositioning, announced in late 2025, was a massive undertaking aimed at improving shareholder value from a position of strength.

Here's the quick math on their execution through Q3 2025:

• Net Interest Margin (FTE) expanded for the eighth consecutive quarter, reaching 3.52% in Q3 2025.
• The repositioning included a successful common stock offering that generated $98.6 million in net proceeds and the issuance of $100,000,000 in subordinated notes in August 2025.
• The core commercial lending engine remains strong, with organic commercial loan growth of $57.9 million, or 7.0% annualized, in Q3 2025.

Yes, the Q3 2025 net loss of $222.0 million was significant, but it was a direct, disclosed result of this strategic repositioning, not a failure of the core business. The underlying strength-the expanding margin and solid commercial growth-shows the discipline is working, positioning the bank for durable returns into 2026.