Should You Buy Cadence Bank (CADE) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.
Conclusion
Hold
Latest Price
42.820
1 Day change
1.45%
52 Week Range
46.740
Analysis Updated At
2026/01/28
Not a good buy right now for a beginner long-term investor. CADE is in a bearish short-term trend and, more importantly, its upside is likely capped by the pending all-stock sale to Huntington (HBAN) expected to close in Q1 2026. With hedge funds selling aggressively and analysts sitting at Market Perform, the risk/reward for initiating a fresh position today is not attractive—especially for an impatient investor looking for a clean long-term entry.
Technical Analysis
Price/Trend: CADE is trading at 42.295 (-2.11% today) and is below the key pivot (44.27), which keeps near-term momentum tilted bearish.
Momentum: MACD histogram is negative (-0.368) and expanding lower, indicating increasing downside momentum.
RSI: RSI(6)=32.7, close to oversold territory, suggesting selling pressure is elevated but not yet a clear reversal signal.
Levels: Immediate support sits around S1=42.55 (currently slightly below it) and then S2=41.48. Resistance is 44.27 (pivot) then 45.99.
Pattern-based forward odds provided: model suggests weak near-term edge (next week +0.99%) but negative next month (-6.88%), aligning with the current bearish technical setup.
Options Data
Bullish
Open Interest Put-Call Ratio
Bullish
Option Volume Put-Call Ratio
Sentiment: Open interest put/call of 0.12 is strongly call-heavy (bullish positioning). However, volume is extremely low (only 3 contracts total; call volume 0, put volume 3), so the sentiment read is not very reliable.
Volatility: IV (30d) ~32.1 vs historical vol ~40.7, with low IV percentile (16) / IV rank (7.78). Options are relatively cheap, but current flow is too thin to treat as a strong signal.
Technical Summary
Sell
4
Buy
9
Positive Catalysts
1) Deal backdrop: The agreed all-stock acquisition by Huntington (close targeted Q1 2026) can help put a floor under valuation and keep the stock anchored to deal terms.
2) Earnings strength (latest quarter): Q4 2025 results showed improved performance (news notes Non-GAAP EPS 0.85; revenue up ~17.2% per the news summary).
3) Shareholder return: Quarterly dividend declared at $0.3438/share; indicated yield noted as 6.63% in the news flow.
Neutral/Negative Catalysts
1) Limited upside due to merger: In most bank M&A setups, the target’s upside tends to be capped as the market prices in the exchange ratio and deal spread; this is not ideal for a fresh long-term entry if you want meaningful compounding upside.
2) Institutional pressure: Hedge funds are selling, with selling amount up ~1672.8% over the last quarter—clear negative positioning.
3) Technical weakness: Price below pivot with MACD deterioration increases odds of more downside before stabilization.
4) Analyst posture is neutral: Recent coverage is Market Perform, consistent with “not much juice left” ahead of the transaction close.
Financial Performance
Latest reported quarter (2025/Q4): Revenue 491.3M (+14.67% YoY), Net Income 144.4M (+10.77% YoY), EPS 0.76 (+8.57% YoY). Growth is positive and consistent with an improving earnings profile. News also highlighted an improving net interest margin and capital ratios in the most recent update, which supports fundamental stability into the merger period.
Growth
Profitability
Efficiency
Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends
Recent trend: Keefe Bruyette moved from more constructive to neutral after the Huntington acquisition was announced. On 2025-11-03 they downgraded to Market Perform (PT raised to 49 from 41 due to deal context). On 2026-01-26 they trimmed the price target slightly to 48 (from 49) and kept Market Perform.
Wall Street pros view (in plain terms): Pros—fundamentals have improved and the deal provides visibility. Cons—neutral rating implies limited upside from here and the stock is mainly trading the deal rather than open-ended growth.
Wall Street analysts forecast CADE stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for CADE is 44.28 USD with a low forecast of 39 USD and a high forecast of 49 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
8 Analyst Rating
Wall Street analysts forecast CADE stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for CADE is 44.28 USD with a low forecast of 39 USD and a high forecast of 49 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
2 Buy
6 Hold
0 Sell
Hold
Current: 42.210
Low
39
Averages
44.28
High
49
Current: 42.210
Low
39
Averages
44.28
High
49
Keefe Bruyette
Market Perform
downgrade
$49 -> $48
AI Analysis
2026-01-26
New
Reason
Keefe Bruyette
Price Target
$49 -> $48
AI Analysis
2026-01-26
New
downgrade
Market Perform
Reason
Keefe Bruyette lowered the firm's price target on Cadence Bank to $48 from $49 and keeps a Market Perform rating on the shares.
Keefe Bruyette
Keefe Bruyette
Outperform -> Market Perform
downgrade
$41 -> $49
2025-11-03
Reason
Keefe Bruyette
Keefe Bruyette
Price Target
$41 -> $49
2025-11-03
downgrade
Outperform -> Market Perform
Reason
Keefe Bruyette downgraded Cadence Bank (CADE) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $49, up from $41, after the company agreed to sell itself to Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) in an all-stock deal slated to close in Q1 of 2026. Keefe views the merger as a good deal for both sets of shareholders.
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