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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights U.S Bancorp, KeyCorp and Columbia Banking System
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For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – December 1, 2025 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: U.S Bancorp (USB - Free Report) , KeyCorp (KEY - Free Report) and Columbia Banking System (COLB - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:
3 Bank Stocks with Solid Dividend Yields to Keep an Eye On
With U.S. markets experiencing a notable upswing, investors are keenly observing opportunities to bolster their portfolios amid the positive momentum. The optimistic stance seems to be driven by the expectations of further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year, positive economic growth outlooks globally, and improving investor sentiment fueled by solid sector performances.
Hence, investors must watch fundamentally solid banks, which also offer a robust dividend yield and enhance their investment strategies in a thriving market landscape. We believe that these banks — U.S Bancorp, KeyCorp and Columbia Banking System — should remain on investors' radar for earning solid dividends.
To choose these banks, we ran the Zacks Stocks Screener to identify stocks with a dividend yield in excess of 4%. Among these three stocks, one currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), while the other two hold a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) each. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Additionally, all three bank stocks have declined this year. Thus, these provide a good entry point for investors.
3 Bank Stocks to Watch
U.S. Bancorp, headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, provides banking and investment services mainly operating in the Midwest and the Western regions of the United States.
USB has experienced strong growth in total loans and deposits during the past few years as it continued to expand and deepen relationships with current customers, as well as acquire new customers and market share. Stabilizing funding costs, along with the U.S. Bancorp's efforts to enhance its range of products, services, and capabilities, is supporting top-line growth.
Further, U.S. Bancorp has made several strategic acquisitions in the past years, which have opened new markets to it and fortified existing markets. The company is also increasingly doubling down on artificial intelligence (AI) and digital infrastructure as a cornerstone of its long-term growth strategy. These efforts are expected to boost U.S. Bank's profitability by reducing operational costs and increasing revenues. Management expects total net revenues to rise 3-5% in 2024. The company also anticipates witnessing positive operating leverage of more than 200 basis points in 2025.
Notably, USB has a decent balance sheet position. As of Sept. 30, 2025, the company had a long-term debt of $62.5 billion. It has only $15.4 billion of short-term borrowings. Cash and due from banks were $66.6 billion as of the same date.
This Zacks Rank #2 company has a dividend yield of 4.3%. In the last five years, U.S. Bancorp increased its dividend payout five times. Check the USB's dividend history here.
KeyCorp, headquartered in Cleveland, OH, is one of the leading regional banks in the country. The company provides a wide range of products and services, such as commercial and retail banking, commercial leasing, investment management, consumer finance and investment banking products.
KeyCorp is well-positioned to benefit from solid loan and deposit balances, rising net interest income (NII) and its efforts to strengthen fee income. KEY's business expansion efforts are commendable. Period-end loans are expected to rise roughly 2% in 2025. NII (TE) is expected to be up roughly 22% while non-interest income (excluding the securities loss) is expected to be up 5-6% or more in 2025.
Given the buyouts/expansion initiatives, it has strengthened its product suites and market share. The company is expected to continue with opportunistic acquisitions, which are likely to help further diversify revenues. Also, as demand for digital banking services continues to rise, it has been consolidating its branch network, with management looking for opportunities to right-size its footprint.
The company maintains a decent liquidity position with total debt of $16.5 billion (the majority of this is long-term in nature) and cash and due from banks and short-term investments of $15.3 billion as of Sept. 30, 2025.
This Zacks Rank #3 company has a dividend yield of 4.5%. In the last five years, KeyCorp increased its dividend payout twice.Check KeyCorp's dividend history here.
Columbia Banking, headquartered in Tacoma, WA, provides commercial and consumer banking, treasury management, mortgage, wealth and trust services and equipment finance through FinPac.
The company's granular deposit base and relationship banking focus support resilient NII and balanced fee income growth. Columbia Banking is also scaling its Western footprint through strategic acquisition. In sync with this, in August 2025, COLB acquired Pacific Premier. The merger gives Columbia Banking roughly $70 billion in assets, about $50 billion in loans, and $56 billion in deposits. With this buyout, the company gains greater scale and diversification across the Western United States, potentially improving competitive positioning, expanding its product offering, and enhancing operating efficiencies.
COLB management remains focused on protecting core relationship deposits while continuing to wind down non-core, higher-cost sources. Management expects net interest margin (NIM) to be just north of 3.90% in the fourth quarter of 2025, aided by a temporary deposit premium amortization (which is expected to contribute $12 million to NII in the quarter). Further, strong capital generation and excess capital versus targets create tangible capacity to deploy capital opportunistically, supporting per-share value growth for Columbia Banking as integration synergies and earnings accretion continue to materialize.
This Zacks Rank #3 company has a dividend yield of 5.1%. In the last five years, Columbia Banking hiked its dividend payout three times. Check COLB's dividend history here.
Final Words on Bank Stocks With Solid Dividend Yield
Furnishing one's portfolio with dividend stocks shows prudence, as these provide a source of steady income and a cushion against market risks. Despite the benefits of dividend stocks, not every company can maintain its dividend-paying streak. So, investors must be judicious while picking dividend stocks for steady returns.
Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.7% average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +48.4%, +50.2% and +56.7% per year.
Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights U.S Bancorp, KeyCorp and Columbia Banking System
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – December 1, 2025 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: U.S Bancorp (USB - Free Report) , KeyCorp (KEY - Free Report) and Columbia Banking System (COLB - Free Report) .
Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:
3 Bank Stocks with Solid Dividend Yields to Keep an Eye On
With U.S. markets experiencing a notable upswing, investors are keenly observing opportunities to bolster their portfolios amid the positive momentum. The optimistic stance seems to be driven by the expectations of further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year, positive economic growth outlooks globally, and improving investor sentiment fueled by solid sector performances.
Hence, investors must watch fundamentally solid banks, which also offer a robust dividend yield and enhance their investment strategies in a thriving market landscape. We believe that these banks — U.S Bancorp, KeyCorp and Columbia Banking System — should remain on investors' radar for earning solid dividends.
To choose these banks, we ran the Zacks Stocks Screener to identify stocks with a dividend yield in excess of 4%. Among these three stocks, one currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), while the other two hold a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) each. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Additionally, all three bank stocks have declined this year. Thus, these provide a good entry point for investors.
3 Bank Stocks to Watch
U.S. Bancorp, headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, provides banking and investment services mainly operating in the Midwest and the Western regions of the United States.
USB has experienced strong growth in total loans and deposits during the past few years as it continued to expand and deepen relationships with current customers, as well as acquire new customers and market share. Stabilizing funding costs, along with the U.S. Bancorp's efforts to enhance its range of products, services, and capabilities, is supporting top-line growth.
Further, U.S. Bancorp has made several strategic acquisitions in the past years, which have opened new markets to it and fortified existing markets. The company is also increasingly doubling down on artificial intelligence (AI) and digital infrastructure as a cornerstone of its long-term growth strategy. These efforts are expected to boost U.S. Bank's profitability by reducing operational costs and increasing revenues. Management expects total net revenues to rise 3-5% in 2024. The company also anticipates witnessing positive operating leverage of more than 200 basis points in 2025.
Notably, USB has a decent balance sheet position. As of Sept. 30, 2025, the company had a long-term debt of $62.5 billion. It has only $15.4 billion of short-term borrowings. Cash and due from banks were $66.6 billion as of the same date.
This Zacks Rank #2 company has a dividend yield of 4.3%. In the last five years, U.S. Bancorp increased its dividend payout five times. Check the USB's dividend history here.
KeyCorp, headquartered in Cleveland, OH, is one of the leading regional banks in the country. The company provides a wide range of products and services, such as commercial and retail banking, commercial leasing, investment management, consumer finance and investment banking products.
KeyCorp is well-positioned to benefit from solid loan and deposit balances, rising net interest income (NII) and its efforts to strengthen fee income. KEY's business expansion efforts are commendable. Period-end loans are expected to rise roughly 2% in 2025. NII (TE) is expected to be up roughly 22% while non-interest income (excluding the securities loss) is expected to be up 5-6% or more in 2025.
Given the buyouts/expansion initiatives, it has strengthened its product suites and market share. The company is expected to continue with opportunistic acquisitions, which are likely to help further diversify revenues. Also, as demand for digital banking services continues to rise, it has been consolidating its branch network, with management looking for opportunities to right-size its footprint.
The company maintains a decent liquidity position with total debt of $16.5 billion (the majority of this is long-term in nature) and cash and due from banks and short-term investments of $15.3 billion as of Sept. 30, 2025.
This Zacks Rank #3 company has a dividend yield of 4.5%. In the last five years, KeyCorp increased its dividend payout twice.Check KeyCorp's dividend history here.
Columbia Banking, headquartered in Tacoma, WA, provides commercial and consumer banking, treasury management, mortgage, wealth and trust services and equipment finance through FinPac.
The company's granular deposit base and relationship banking focus support resilient NII and balanced fee income growth. Columbia Banking is also scaling its Western footprint through strategic acquisition. In sync with this, in August 2025, COLB acquired Pacific Premier. The merger gives Columbia Banking roughly $70 billion in assets, about $50 billion in loans, and $56 billion in deposits. With this buyout, the company gains greater scale and diversification across the Western United States, potentially improving competitive positioning, expanding its product offering, and enhancing operating efficiencies.
COLB management remains focused on protecting core relationship deposits while continuing to wind down non-core, higher-cost sources. Management expects net interest margin (NIM) to be just north of 3.90% in the fourth quarter of 2025, aided by a temporary deposit premium amortization (which is expected to contribute $12 million to NII in the quarter). Further, strong capital generation and excess capital versus targets create tangible capacity to deploy capital opportunistically, supporting per-share value growth for Columbia Banking as integration synergies and earnings accretion continue to materialize.
This Zacks Rank #3 company has a dividend yield of 5.1%. In the last five years, Columbia Banking hiked its dividend payout three times. Check COLB's dividend history here.
Final Words on Bank Stocks With Solid Dividend Yield
Furnishing one's portfolio with dividend stocks shows prudence, as these provide a source of steady income and a cushion against market risks. Despite the benefits of dividend stocks, not every company can maintain its dividend-paying streak. So, investors must be judicious while picking dividend stocks for steady returns.
Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.7% average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +48.4%, +50.2% and +56.7% per year.
Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.
See Stocks Free >>
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.