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., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks or Inc. 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., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Live Oak Bancshares, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc.

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.

United Community Banks, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for United Community Bank that provides financial services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts. It also provides loans comprising owner occupied and income producing CRE, commercial and industrial, equipment financing, residential mortgage, home equity, manufactured housing, and consumer loans, as well as commercial and residential construction and land. In addition, the company offers private banking, investment management, investment advice, financial planning services, estate and retirement planning, and insurance products; non-deposit investment products and insurance products, such as life insurance, long-term care insurance and tax-deferred annuities; and trust services to manage fiduciary assets. Further, it provides reinsurance on property insurance contracts and payment processing services for commercial and small business customers. The company serves the commercial, retail, government, education, energy, health care, and real estate sectors. United Community Banks, Inc. was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina.

United Community Banks, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for United Community Bank that provides financial services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts. It also provides loans comprising owner occupied and income producing CRE, commercial and industrial, equipment financing, residential mortgage, home equity, manufactured housing, and consumer loans, as well as commercial and residential construction and land. In addition, the company offers private banking, investment management, investment advice, financial planning services, estate and retirement planning, and insurance products; non-deposit investment products and insurance products, such as life insurance, long-term care insurance and tax-deferred annuities; and trust services to manage fiduciary assets. Further, it provides reinsurance on property insurance contracts and payment processing services for commercial and small business customers. The company serves the commercial, retail, government, education, energy, health care, and real estate sectors. United Community Banks, Inc. was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina.

Latest Banks and Live Oak Bancshares, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc. 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, United Community Banks, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 11.6. United Community Banks, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.1 billion with a 34.1% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 24.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.918 per share for the current fiscal year. United Community Banks, Inc. currently has a 2.8% dividend yield.

How We Compare Live Oak Bancshares, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc. 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., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Live Oak Bancshares, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc. Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Live Oak Bancshares, Inc.	LOB	C
United Community Banks, Inc.	UCB	A
United Community Banks, Inc.	UCB	A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a Growth Score of 48, which is Average. United Community Banks, Inc. has a Growth Score of 83, which is Very Strong. United Community Banks, Inc. has a Growth Score of 83, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: United Community Banks, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, United Community Banks, Inc. has a more attractive growth grade than Live Oak Bancshares, Inc.. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, United Community Banks, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Live Oak Bancshares, Inc.	LOB	C
United Community Banks, Inc.	UCB	C
United Community Banks, Inc.	UCB	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. United Community Banks, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 52, which is Average. United Community Banks, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 52, which is Average.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Live Oak Bancshares, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks or Inc. 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., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Live Oak Bancshares, Inc.	LOB	C
United Community Banks, Inc.	UCB	D
United Community Banks, Inc.	UCB	D

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. United Community Banks, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 23, which is Negative. United Community Banks, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 23, which is Negative.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Live Oak Bancshares, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks or Inc. has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade that could 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., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to estimate revisions.

Other Live Oak Bancshares, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc. Grades

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

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 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., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc. 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., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 48, Momentum Score of 59 and Estimate Revisions Score of 50.

United Community Banks, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 83, Momentum Score of 52 and Estimate Revisions Score of 23.

United Community Banks, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 83, Momentum Score of 52 and Estimate Revisions Score of 23.

Comparing Live Oak Bancshares, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc.’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.