Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) versus Bar Harbor Bankshares (NYSE:BHB) Head to Head Contrast

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) and Bar Harbor Bankshares (NYSE:BHB) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Live Oak Bancshares and Bar Harbor 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	$936.15 million	1.89	$77.47 million	$1.22	31.66
Bar Harbor Bankshares	$147.73 million	3.65	$43.04 million	$2.58	12.53

Live Oak Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Bar Harbor Bankshares. Bar Harbor 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.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

64.0% of Live Oak Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.5% of Bar Harbor Bankshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.4% of Live Oak Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of Bar Harbor Bankshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Live Oak Bancshares	5.71%	5.46%	0.42%
Bar Harbor Bankshares	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Live Oak Bancshares and Bar Harbor Bankshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Live Oak Bancshares	0	0	0	0	0.00
Bar Harbor Bankshares	0	0	1	0	3.00

Bar Harbor Bankshares has a consensus target price of $35.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.26%. Given Bar Harbor Bankshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Bar Harbor Bankshares is more favorable than Live Oak Bancshares.

Dividends

Live Oak Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Bar Harbor Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Live Oak Bancshares pays out 9.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bar Harbor Bankshares pays out 49.6% 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. Bar Harbor Bankshares has increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years. Bar Harbor Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility & Risk

Live Oak Bancshares has a beta of 1.82, indicating that its share price is 82% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bar Harbor Bankshares has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Live Oak Bancshares beats Bar Harbor Bankshares on 10 of the 17 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 commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, and professionals in North Carolina, the United States. 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; wealth and investment management services to high-net-worth individuals and families; investment advisory services to a series of funds focused on providing venture capital to new and emerging financial technology companies; and an on-site restaurant location to company employees and business visitors. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina.

About Bar Harbor Bankshares

Bar Harbor Bankshares operates as the holding company for Bar Harbor Bank & Trust that provides commercial, lending, retail, and wealth management banking services. It accepts various deposit products, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing demand accounts, savings accounts, time deposits, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides commercial real estate loans, such as multi-family, commercial construction and land development, and other commercial real estate classes; commercial and industrial loans, including loans to commercial and agricultural businesses, and tax exempt entities; residential real estate loans consists of mortgages for 1-4 family housing; and consumer loans comprises home equity loans, lines of credit, auto, and other installment lending. In addition, it provides life insurance, annuity, and retirement products, as well as financial planning services; and third-party investment and insurance services. Further, the company offers trust and estate administration, wealth advisory, and investment management services to individuals, businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and municipalities; and 401K plan, financial, estate and charitable planning, investment management, family office, municipal, and tax services. It operates 53 locations across Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The company was founded in 1887 and is based in Bar Harbor, Maine.