Live Oak Bancshares (NASDAQ:LOB) and Atlantic Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:AUB) Critical Analysis

Live Oak Bancshares (NASDAQ:LOB) and Atlantic Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:AUB) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Live Oak Bancshares and Atlantic Union Bankshares”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Live Oak Bancshares	$533.05 million	2.94	$77.47 million	$1.49	23.01
Atlantic Union Bankshares	$1.21 billion	4.03	$209.13 million	$1.87	18.23

Atlantic Union Bankshares has higher revenue and earnings than Live Oak Bancshares. Atlantic Union Bankshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Live Oak Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Live Oak Bancshares and Atlantic Union Bankshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Live Oak Bancshares	7.10%	6.88%	0.55%
Atlantic Union Bankshares	15.53%	8.50%	1.06%

Dividends

Live Oak Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Atlantic Union Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Live Oak Bancshares pays out 8.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Atlantic Union Bankshares pays out 72.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Atlantic Union Bankshares has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Atlantic Union Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

64.0% of Live Oak Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.6% of Atlantic Union Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.4% of Live Oak Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Atlantic Union Bankshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Live Oak Bancshares and Atlantic Union Bankshares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Live Oak Bancshares	0	2	3	0	2.60
Atlantic Union Bankshares	1	1	6	1	2.78

Live Oak Bancshares presently has a consensus target price of $43.20, suggesting a potential upside of 25.98%. Atlantic Union Bankshares has a consensus target price of $40.83, suggesting a potential upside of 19.76%. Given Live Oak Bancshares’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Live Oak Bancshares is more favorable than Atlantic Union Bankshares.

Volatility & Risk

Live Oak Bancshares has a beta of 1.81, meaning that its share price is 81% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Atlantic Union Bankshares has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Atlantic Union Bankshares beats Live Oak Bancshares on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Live Oak Bancshares

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Live Oak Banking Company that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It operates through two segments, Banking and Fintech. The company accepts various deposit products, including noninterest-bearing demand, as well as interest-bearing checking, money market, savings, and time deposits. It also offers commercial and industrial loans; construction and development loans; owner occupied and non-owner occupied collateral commercial real estate loans; and commercial land loans. In addition, the company provides settlement, accounting, and securitization services for government guaranteed loans; financing for renewable energy application industry; wealth and investment management services to high-net-worth individuals and families; and investment advisory services to a series of funds focused on providing venture capital to new and emerging financial technology companies. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina.

About Atlantic Union Bankshares

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Atlantic Union Bank that provides banking and related financial products and services to consumers and businesses in the United States. It operates in two segments, Wholesale Banking and Consumer Banking. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, time deposit, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; and other depository services. It also provides loans for commercial, industrial, residential mortgage, and consumer purposes, as well as debit and credit cards. In addition, it provides treasury management and capital market, wealth management, private banking, trust, financial and retirement planning, brokerage, investment management, equipment finance, mortgage banking, and insurance products and services. The company offers products and services through full-service branches and ATMs, as well as through its mobile and internet banking. The company was formerly known as Union Bankshares Corporation and changed its name to Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation in May 2019. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia.