Head-To-Head Review: CoastalSouth Bancshares (NYSE:COSO) and Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB)

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) and CoastalSouth Bancshares (NYSE:COSO) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Live Oak Bancshares and CoastalSouth Bancshares, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Live Oak Bancshares	0	2	0	1	2.67
CoastalSouth Bancshares	0	1	1	0	2.50

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Live Oak Bancshares	$533.05 million	2.78	$77.47 million	$1.49	21.79
CoastalSouth Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Live Oak Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than CoastalSouth Bancshares.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Live Oak Bancshares	6.94%	6.73%	0.52%
CoastalSouth Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

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 hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Live Oak Bancshares beats CoastalSouth Bancshares on 8 of the 9 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 CoastalSouth Bancshares

CoastalSouth Bancshares, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through our wholly owned subsidiary, Coastal States Bank, a South Carolina state-chartered commercial bank, we offer a full range of banking products and services designed for businesses, real estate professionals, and consumers looking for a deep and meaningful relationship with their bank. Today, we have a community banking presence in some of the fastest growing and most business-friendly markets in the U.S., namely the Lowcountry of South Carolina (Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, and Beaufort), nearby Savannah, Georgia, and the Atlanta, Georgia market. — In addition to our traditional community banking operations, we operate four specialty lines of business that provide scalability and diversification: • Senior Housing Lending – focuses on lending to operators across the spectrum of senior care, with an emphasis on assisted living; • Marine Lending – focuses on consumer loans primarily to high-net-worth borrowers secured by yachts and high-end sport fishing vessels; • Government Guaranteed Lending – focuses on origination of small business and other loans guaranteed by the SBA and USDA; and • Mortgage Banker Finance – focuses on mortgage warehouse lending to mortgage originators. By combining the relationship-based focus of a community bank with our specialty lines of business, we believe we can capitalize on the substantial growth opportunities available in our markets, particularly given the scarcity of community banks between $1.5 billion and $5.0 billion in total assets. Our principal executive offices are located in Atlanta, Georgia.