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Best Bank Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top bank stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% per year, and are the best bank stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best bank stocks to buy right now are:

Banco Santander Sa (NYSE:BSBR) is the #1 top bank stock out of 314 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Banco Santander Sa (NYSE:BSBR) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: A.

Banco Santander Sa (NYSE:BSBR) has a Due Diligence Score of 6, which is -32 points lower than the bank industry average of 38. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates BSBR as a "B".

BSBR passed 2 out of 38 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Banco Santander Sa has seen its stock return 38.9% over the past year, overperforming other bank stocks by 9 percentage points.

Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) is the #2 top bank stock out of 314 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: B.

Franklin Financial Services (NASDAQ:FRAF) has a Due Diligence Score of 44, which is 6 points higher than the bank industry average of 38.

FRAF passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Franklin Financial Services has seen its stock return 61.51% over the past year, overperforming other bank stocks by 32 percentage points.

Metropolitan Bank Holding (NYSE:MCB) is the #3 top bank stock out of 314 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Metropolitan Bank Holding (NYSE:MCB) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Metropolitan Bank Holding (NYSE:MCB) has a Due Diligence Score of 51, which is 13 points higher than the bank industry average of 38.

MCB passed 16 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Metropolitan Bank Holding has seen its stock return 72.1% over the past year, overperforming other bank stocks by 42 percentage points.

Metropolitan Bank Holding has an average 1 year price target of $97.50, an upside of 8.26% from Metropolitan Bank Holding's current stock price of $90.06.

Metropolitan Bank Holding stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Metropolitan Bank Holding, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 100% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 259 bank stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 bank stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Affinity Bancshares (NASDAQ:AFBI) has an annual dividend yield of N/A, which is N/A percentage points lower than the bank industry average of 2.64%.

Affinity Bancshares's dividend payout ratio of 0% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Newtekone (NASDAQ:NEWT) has an annual dividend yield of 7.87%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the bank industry average of 2.64%. Newtekone's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% six times in the last 10 years. Newtekone's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Newtekone's dividend payout ratio of 34.4% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Tfs Financial (NASDAQ:TFSL) has an annual dividend yield of 7.57%, which is 5 percentage points higher than the bank industry average of 2.64%. Tfs Financial's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Tfs Financial's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Tfs Financial's dividend payout ratio of 353.1% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Bank stocks were up 1.63% in the last day, and up 5.53% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why bank stocks are up.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued bank stocks right now are:

Newtekone (NASDAQ:NEWT) is the most undervalued bank stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Newtekone has a valuation score of 71, which is 21 points higher than the bank industry average of 50. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Newtekone's stock has gained 14.62% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the bank industry by -15 percentage points.

Op Bancorp (NASDAQ:OPBK) is the second most undervalued bank stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Op Bancorp has a valuation score of 71, which is 21 points higher than the bank industry average of 50. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Op Bancorp's stock has gained 23.67% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the bank industry by -6 percentage points.

Burke & Herbert Financial Services (NASDAQ:BHRB) is the third most undervalued bank stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Burke & Herbert Financial Services has a valuation score of 71, which is 21 points higher than the bank industry average of 50. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Burke & Herbert Financial Services's stock has gained 25.58% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the bank industry by -4 percentage points.

34.56% of bank stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect bank stocks to rise by 8.13% over the next year.

0% of bank stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 5.86% of bank stocks are rated B (Buy), 79.85% are rated C (Hold), 12.09% are rated D (Sell), and 2.2% are rated F (Strong Sell).