Comparing Suncrest Bank (OTCMKTS:SBKK) & Live Oak Bancshares (NASDAQ:LOB)

Suncrest Bank (OTCMKTS:SBKK) and Live Oak Bancshares (NASDAQ:LOB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Suncrest Bank and Live Oak Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Suncrest Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00
Live Oak Bancshares	0	2	2	0	2.50

Live Oak Bancshares has a consensus target price of $43.75, indicating a potential upside of 18.05%. Given Live Oak Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Live Oak Bancshares is more favorable than Suncrest Bank.

Profitability

This table compares Suncrest Bank and Live Oak Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Suncrest Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A
Live Oak Bancshares	7.10%	6.88%	0.55%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Suncrest Bank and Live Oak Bancshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Suncrest Bank	$46.73 million	4.92	$16.96 million	$1.37	13.56
Live Oak Bancshares	$516.93 million	3.28	$77.47 million	$1.22	30.38

Live Oak Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Suncrest Bank. Suncrest Bank 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.

Risk and Volatility

Suncrest Bank has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Live Oak Bancshares has a beta of 1.75, meaning that its stock price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

5.9% of Suncrest Bank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.0% of Live Oak Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 23.4% of Live Oak Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Live Oak Bancshares beats Suncrest Bank on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Suncrest Bank

Suncrest Bank engages in the provision of personal and commercial banking services. It provides checking, savings and certificates of deposits, lending, cash management, online and mobile banking, e-statements, remote deposit capture, financial calculators, and customer service center. It also offers agricultural real estate loans, production finance, equipment financing and leasing, development loans, long-term fixed rate, SBA and USDA loans, valley small business guaranteed loans, USDA B&I loans, farmer mac loans, and cal-cap loans. The company was founded on May 19, 2008 and is headquartered in Visalia, CA.

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.