BALANCE SHEET REVIEW
At December 31, 2022, total assets, loans and deposits were $3.6 billion, $2.7 billion and $3.0 billion, respectively. Loan growth for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, excluding PPP loans, was $447.5 million or 19.8% due to improved loan demand and organic growth in our newest markets. Loan growth, excluding PPP loans, during the three months ended December 31, 2022 totaled $106.8 million. Higher interest rates and economic uncertainty may result in lower loan demand and lower growth over the near-term when compared to the year-ended December 31, 2022. Commercial real estate loans made up the majority of the growth with tax-exempt loans and residential real estate loans also showing increases. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, the SBA forgave PPP loans totaling $46.6 million. Gross PPP loans remaining at December 31, 2022 total $22.3 million. Net deferred PPP fees remaining at December 31, 2022 totaled $0.2 million and are expected to be earned during 2023 as the remaining SBA PPP loans are forgiven or repaid.
Total investments were $569.0 million at December 31, 2022, compared to $588.7 million at December 31, 2021. The decrease to the investment portfolio resulted from the unrealized loss on the available for sale portfolio, maturities and pay-downs, offset in part by purchases. At December 31, 2022, the available for sale portfolio had an unrealized loss of $66.3 million compared to an unrealized loss of $1.8 million at December 31, 2021, which was the result of the rapid increase in interest rates as the FOMC increased rates seven times from March through December 2022 totaling 425 basis points. During the quarter, $45.5 million in low yielding, shorter term available for sale U.S. Treasury securities were sold at a loss of $2.0 million with the proceeds reinvested into higher yielding, longer term mortgage backed securities. The loss is expected to be earned back in less than fifteen months based on the approximate 374 basis point increase in yield on the purchased bonds.
Loan growth during the period was funded by federal funds sold, deposit inflows and short-term borrowings. During the year, the federal funds sold balance decreased from $242.4 million, total deposits increased $83.2 million and short-term borrowing increased to $114.9 million. Noninterest-bearing deposits increased $35.0 million, or 4.8% and interest-bearing deposits increased $48.2 million, or 2.2% during the twelve months ended December 31, 2022.
Stockholders' equity equaled $315.4 million or $44.06 per share at December 31, 2022, and $340.1 million or $47.44 per share at December 31, 2021. The decrease in stockholders’ equity from December 31, 2021 is primarily attributable to a decrease to accumulated other comprehensive loss (“AOCI”) resulting from an increase to the unrealized loss on available for sale securities and dividends paid to shareholders, partially offset by net income. Tangible stockholders' equity decreased to $35.19 per share at December 31, 2022, from $38.54 per share at December 31, 2021. Dividends declared for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 amounted to $1.58 per share, a 5.3% increase from the 2021 period, representing a dividend payout ratio of 29.9%. During the three months ended December 31, 2022, 4,732 shares were purchased and retired under the Company’s common stock repurchase plan.
ASSET QUALITY REVIEW
Asset quality metrics remained strong and continued to improve. Nonperforming assets were $4.1 million or 0.15% of loans, net and foreclosed assets at December 31, 2022, compared to $5.0 million or 0.21% of loans, net and foreclosed assets at December 31, 2021. As a percentage of total assets, nonperforming assets improved to 0.12% at December 31, 2022 compared to 0.15% at December 31, 2021. The decrease in nonperforming assets was due to the sale of the Company’s foreclosed properties which totaled $0.5 million at December 31, 2021 and a $1.1 million decrease to nonaccrual and restructured loans due in part to the sale of a pool of commercial and residential nonaccrual loans with a book balance of $0.9 million, partially offset by a $0.7 million increase to loans past due ninety days and still accruing. At December 31, 2022 the Company had no foreclosed properties.
The Company's allowance for loan losses decreased $2.3 million to $27.5 million due to net charge-offs of $0.2 million combined with a release of the allowance for loan losses of $2.1 million during the quarter ended December 31, 2022 based on our allowance methodology. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, the allowance decreased $0.9 million, the product of a credit to the provision for loan losses of $0.4 million and net charge-offs of $0.5 million. The allowance for loan losses equaled $27.5 million or 1.01% of loans, net at December 31, 2022 compared to $28.4 million or 1.22% of loans, net, at December 31, 2021. Excluding PPP loans which do not carry an allowance for loan losses due to a 100% government guarantee, the ratio equaled 1.01% at December 31, 2022 and 1.26% at December 31, 2021. Loans charged-off, net of recoveries, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, equaled $0.5 million or 0.02% of average loans, compared to $0.7 million or 0.03% of average loans for the comparable period last year.