NOTE 5: INVESTMENT SECURITIES

Held-to-maturity securities (“HTM”), which include any security for which the Company has both the positive intent and ability to hold until maturity, are carried at historical cost adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts. Premiums and discounts are amortized and accreted, respectively, to interest income over the security’s estimated life. Prepayments are anticipated for certain mortgage-backed securities. Premiums on callable securities are amortized to their earliest call date.

Available-for-sale securities (“AFS”), which include any security for which the Company has no immediate plan to sell but which may be sold in the future, are carried at fair value. Realized gains and losses, based on specifically identified amortized cost of the individual security, are included in non-interest income. Unrealized gains and losses are recorded, net of related income tax effects, in stockholders’ equity. Premiums and discounts are amortized and accreted, respectively, to interest income over the estimated life of the security. Prepayments are anticipated for certain mortgage-backed and Small Business Administration (SBA) securities. Premiums on callable securities are amortized to their earliest call date.

The amortized cost and fair values of securities were as follows:

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The amortized cost and fair value of available-for-sale and held-to-maturity securities at March 31, 2025, by contractual maturity, are shown below. Expected maturities will differ from contractual maturities because issuers may have the right to call or prepay obligations with or without call or prepayment penalties.

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Certain available-for-sale investments in debt securities are reported in the financial statements at an amount less than their amortized cost. Total fair value of these investments at March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, was approximately $458.2 million and $523.9 million, respectively, which was approximately 85.5% and 98.2% of the Company’s total available-for-sale investment portfolio at those dates. A high percentage of the unrealized losses were related to the Company’s mortgage-backed securities, collateralized mortgage obligations and Small Business Administration (SBA) securities, which are issued and guaranteed by U.S. government-sponsored entities and agencies. The Company’s state and political subdivisions securities are investments in insured fixed rate municipal bonds for which the issuers continue to make timely principal and interest payments under the contractual terms of the securities. Held-to-maturity investments in debt securities are reported in the financial statements at their amortized carrying value at March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, which was $185.9 million and $187.4 million, respectively. Total fair value of these investments at March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024 was approximately $165.2 million and $162.8 million, respectively, which is 100.0% of the Company’s held-to-maturity investment portfolio.

Held-to-maturity investment securities are evaluated for potential losses under ASU 2016-13. The Company continually assesses its liquidity sources, both on-balance sheet and off-balance sheet, and believes that at March 31, 2025, it had ample liquidity sources to fund its ongoing operations without selling investment securities in its portfolio.

Based on evaluation of available evidence, including recent changes in market interest rates, credit rating information and information obtained from regulatory filings of issuers, management believes the declines in fair value for the Company’s available-for-sale debt securities are not credit related.

The following table shows the Company’s gross unrealized losses and fair value, aggregated by investment category and length of time that individual securities have been in a continuous unrealized loss position at March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024:

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There were no sales of available-for-sale securities during the three months ended March 31, 2025 or March 31, 2024, respectively.

Allowance for Credit Losses. On January 1, 2021, the Company began evaluating all securities quarterly to determine if any securities in a loss position require a provision for credit losses in accordance with ASC 326, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. All of the mortgage-backed, collateralized mortgage, and SBA securities held by the Company as of March 31, 2025 were issued by U.S. government-sponsored entities and agencies. These securities are either explicitly or implicitly guaranteed by the U.S. government, are highly rated by major rating agencies and have a long history of no credit losses. Likewise, the Company has not historically experienced losses on these types of securities. Accordingly, no allowance for credit losses has been recorded for these securities.

Regarding securities issued by state and political subdivisions, management considers the following when evaluating these securities: (i) current issuer bond ratings, (ii) historical loss rates for given bond ratings, (iii) whether issuers continue to make timely principal and interest payments under the contractual terms of the securities, (iv) updated financial information of the issuer, (v) internal forecasts and (vi) whether such securities provide insurance or other credit enhancement or are pre-refunded by the issuers. These securities are highly rated by major rating agencies and have a long history of no credit losses. Likewise, the Company has not experienced historical losses on these types of securities. Accordingly, no allowance for credit losses has been recorded for these securities.