Sifting through countless of stocks in the Banks industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. or City Holding Company because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. and City Holding Company compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. and City Holding Company

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. The company accepts various deposit products, including noninterest-bearing demand, as well as interest-bearing checking, money market, savings, and time deposits. It also provides 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 offers settlement, accounting, and securitization services for government guaranteed loans; financing for renewable energy application industry; strategic 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 founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina.

City Holding Company operates as a financial holding company for City National Bank of West Virginia that provides banking, trust and investment management, and other financial solutions in the United States. It offers checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts. The company also provides commercial and industrial loans that consist of loans to corporate and other legal entity borrowers primarily in small to mid-size industrial and commercial companies; commercial real estate loans comprising commercial mortgages, which are secured by nonresidential and multi-family residential properties; residential real estate loans to consumers for the purchase or refinance of residence; first-priority home equity loans; home equity lines of credit; amortized home equity loans; consumer loans that are secured and unsecured by automobiles, boats, recreational vehicles, certificates of deposit, and other personal property; and demand deposit account overdrafts, as well as owner-occupied real estate and construction, land development, and lines of credit. In addition, it offers mortgage banking services, including fixed and adjustable-rate mortgages, construction financing, land loans, production of conventional and government-insured mortgages, secondary marketing, and mortgage servicing. Further, the company provides treasury management, lockbox, and other cash management services; merchant credit card services; wealth management, trust, investment, and custodial services for commercial and individual customers; and corporate trust and institutional custody, financial and estate planning, and retirement plan services, as well as automated-teller-machine, interactive-teller-machine, mobile banking, interactive voice response systems, and credit and debit card services. The company was founded in 1957 and is headquartered in Charleston, West Virginia.

Latest Banks and Live Oak Bancshares, Inc., City Holding Company Stock News

As of August 20, 2026, Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. had a $1.9 billion market capitalization, compared to the Banks median of $751.0 million. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc.’s stock is NA in 2026, NA in the previous five trading days and up 15.22% in the past year.

Currently, Live Oak Bancshares, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 14.3. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $526.4 million with a 26.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 12.1%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $3.122 per share for the current fiscal year. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. currently has a 0.3% dividend yield.

Currently, City Holding Company’s price-earnings ratio is 15.8. City Holding Company’s trailing 12-month revenue is $320.5 million with a 41.1% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 0.9%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $9.264 per share for the current fiscal year. City Holding Company currently has a 2.4% dividend yield.

How We Compare Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. and City Holding Company Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. and City Holding Company’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. and City Holding Company Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Live Oak Bancshares, Inc.	LOB	C
City Holding Company	CHCO	C

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a Value Score of 59, which is Average. City Holding Company has a Value Score of 45, which is Average.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. or City Holding Company has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. or City Holding Company is the better investment when it comes to value.

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. and City Holding Company’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Live Oak Bancshares, Inc.	LOB	C
City Holding Company	CHCO	C

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 59, which is Average. City Holding Company has a Momentum Score of 60, which is Average.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. or City Holding Company has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. or City Holding Company is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. and City Holding Company’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Live Oak Bancshares, Inc.	LOB	C
City Holding Company	CHCO	B

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 50, which is Neutral. City Holding Company has a Earnings Estimate Score of 65, which is Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: City Holding Company

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, City Holding Company has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than Live Oak Bancshares, Inc.. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, City Holding Company could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. and City Holding Company Grades

In addition to Value, Estimate Revisions and Momentum, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Quality.

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. and City Holding Company pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. or City Holding Company Stock?

Overall, Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 59, Momentum Score of 59 and Estimate Revisions Score of 50.

City Holding Company stock has a Value Score of 45, Momentum Score of 60 and Estimate Revisions Score of 65.

Comparing Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. and City Holding Company’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.