Carter Bank and Trust
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
This light rates the company, not the share price. No documented substance finding is present: the Tier 1 capital ratio is 14.26 percent, total risk-based capital 15.51 percent, equity to assets 11.23 percent, the allowance covers nonperforming loans 146.88 percent, there are no Federal Home Loan Bank borrowings left, no going-concern doubt and no listing risk (all figures as of June 30, 2026). What is open is the decisive operating question, and it is open twice over. First, reported profit does not carry the business: of $114.7 million in the first half of 2026, $20.2 million remains adjusted, because roughly $100.9 million came from two sales that cannot be repeated. Second, it is unclear how durable the new 3.38 percent margin is: it draws on capital freed by the sold loan, on funding costs that fell 37 basis points, and on a securities repositioning that took a $12.5 million book loss to lift the yield on newly purchased paper from 2.28 to roughly 5.27 percent. Add a loan book that is roughly 71 percent commercial real estate and construction, and nonperforming loans that already climbed back from $24.0 million to $37.6 million. Expressly excluded from this color are price, valuation, float and volatility. Also excluded is the Altman-Z of -1.86 in our data: the formula is built for industrial and trading companies and carries no meaning at a deposit-funded bank. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Carter Bankshares is a $4.8 billion regional bank in Virginia that spent three years blocked by a single problem loan: $214 million at the end, 87.7 percent of all nonperforming loans and $91.2 million of forgone interest income. On March 26, 2026 it was sold for $289.5 million in cash — more than the $209.5 million of principal. Together with the sale of the insurance subsidiary that produced roughly $100.9 million of one-off gains in the first half and reported net income of $114.7 million against $20.2 million adjusted. What remains operationally is still an improvement: net interest margin from 2.80 to 3.38 percent, adjusted quarterly profit from $9.3 million to $11.6 million, Tier 1 capital from 10.87 to 14.26 percent. The open question is how much of that was the loan and how much the rate market — and the share price has already answered, up roughly 93 percent in twelve months. Not investment advice.
Credit quality & legacy exposure
The exposure that made up 87.7 percent of all nonperforming loans was sold on March 26, 2026, finally and without recourse: $289.5 million in cash for $209.5 million of principal. Nonperforming loans fell from $250.6 million (June 30, 2025) to $37.6 million (June 30, 2026), and their share of the loan book from 6.69 to 1.01 percent.
Capital position
As of June 30, 2026 the Tier 1 capital ratio stood at 14.26 percent, total risk-based capital at 15.51 percent, the leverage ratio at 11.65 percent and equity to assets at 11.23 percent — a year earlier those figures were 10.87, 12.12, 9.46 and 8.48 percent. Federal Home Loan Bank borrowings were repaid in full (December 31, 2025: $178.5 million).
Earnings quality
Of $114.7 million of first-half 2026 net income, $20.2 million remains on an adjusted basis. Roughly $100.9 million came from two one-off sales — the loan sale in the first quarter and the sale of the insurance subsidiary on May 1, 2026 — against a $12.5 million loss from repositioning the securities portfolio.
Margin & operating turn
The net interest margin rose from 2.80 percent (second quarter of 2025) through 3.07 to 3.38 percent (second quarter of 2026), with quarterly net interest income up from $32.4 million to $40.0 million. Adjusted quarterly profit grew from $9.3 million to $11.6 million and the adjusted efficiency ratio improved from 75.55 to 62.66 percent.
Concentration risk
As of March 31, 2026, of $3,728.5 million of loans, $2,127.9 million were commercial real estate and $513.6 million construction — roughly 71 percent, concentrated in Virginia and North Carolina. Nonperforming loans already rose again during the second quarter of 2026 from $24.0 million to $37.6 million, triggered by three loans of one relationship totaling $13.4 million.
Funding
As of June 30, 2026, $1,846.4 million of deposits were certificates of deposit; as of December 31, 2025, 71.7 percent of them matured within twelve months. That helped as rates fell — the cost of interest-bearing liabilities dropped from 3.06 to 2.74 percent during 2025 — but works the other way if rates rise.
Worth Noting
Carter Bankshares reached the research list through our in-house stock scanner "K/FCF ranking" (U.S. selection), measured July 27, 2026 on both brands: 545 U.S. hits, CARE at a K/FCF of 2.2229 in place 49 — identical on boersenlotse.de and tickerguard.com. The detail page shows only the 25 strongest hits, so CARE is not visible there; anyone wanting to find the name uses the screener and sets the P/FCF filter to its lowest band. These lists are recomputed daily.
The ratio is distorted twice over for this name and is therefore recomputed in the piece. First, free cash flow at a bank measures the interest margin before credit losses: released loan-loss provisions sit in operating cash flow, while the actual capital deployment — lending — sits in investing ($255.3 million in 2025, $61.4 million in the first quarter of 2026 alone). Second, the $289.5 million of loan sale proceeds also runs through operating activities as its own line, "Proceeds From the Transaction", because the loans were reclassified to held-for-sale beforehand (supplementary disclosure in the quarterly report: $209,484 thousand). Own calculation: market value of roughly $753.5 million divided by roughly $329 million of trailing four-quarter free cash flow gives 2.3; excluding the one-off, roughly 19; measured on fiscal 2025, roughly 24.
The Altman-Z of -1.86 in our data is expressly not used as a safety argument. In the Z" variant used here the thresholds are 1.1 (distress zone) and 2.6 (safe zone); the formula was, however, developed for industrial and trading companies and measures working capital, asset turnover and retained earnings against total assets — quantities that carry no economic meaning at a deposit-funded bank. Two other banks have already been removed from a scanner in this analysis series for the same reason. The assessment runs on bank metrics instead (as of 2026-06-30): Tier 1 capital ratio 14.26 percent, total risk-based capital 15.51 percent, leverage ratio 11.65 percent, equity to assets 11.23 percent, allowance for credit losses 1.48 percent of loans, nonperforming loans 1.01 percent, coverage 146.88 percent, net interest margin 3.38 percent.
Identity checked strictly, because the CARE ticker is ambiguous: the SEC ticker registry maps CARE to CIK 0001829576, and the cover page of the quarterly report for March 31, 2026 reads "CARTER BANKSHARES, INC.", Virginia, Commission File Number 001-39731, trading symbol CARE on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. No former names are recorded in the SEC entity data. Not to be confused: some data sets list the name "Carter Bank and Trust" — that is the subsidiary bank, not the listed holding company.
Price and valuation figures are dated anchors, not buy arguments: price $34.00 as of July 24, 2026, ratio data as of July 27, 2026. The market value of roughly $753.5 million is computed from 22,162,213 shares (balance sheet at June 30, 2026). After a roughly 93 percent gain over twelve months the stock sits at the highest level in company history, while the average analyst price target in the same data set is $28.
The most recent periodic report is the quarterly report 10-Q for March 31, 2026 (filed May 7, 2026). Filed after that, through the data date of July 27, 2026: current reports 8-K of May 1, 2026 (Item 8.01, completion of the insurance sale), May 1, 2026 (Items 7.01 and 9.01), May 29, 2026 (Item 5.07, annual meeting results), May 29, 2026 (Item 7.01), June 24, 2026 (Item 5.02, employment and change-of-control agreements), July 23, 2026 (Item 2.02, second-quarter 2026 results) and July 23, 2026 (Item 8.01, dividend), plus ownership filings (Schedule 13G) and insider reports (Form 4). All June 30, 2026 figures in this analysis come from the July 23, 2026 release; the corresponding quarterly report 10-Q had not been filed as of the data date and will carry those figures in reviewed form for the first time.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at CARE since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 17.00 $ to 35.70 $ · Last price: 30.50 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Banks - Regional
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carter Bank and Trust CARE | 0.7 | – | 0.0 | 100.0 | – | 6.2 | 55.1 |
| Mizuho Financial Group Inc. MFG | 135.7 | 17.4 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 46.7 | 10.4 | 70.5 |
| HDFC Bank Limited HDB | 116.5 | 15.8 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 33.3 | 24.3 | -33.2 |
| ICICI Bank Limited IBN | 101.0 | 17.5 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 38.5 | 6.0 | -12.0 |
| U.S. Bancorp USB | 92.6 | 12.8 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 37.8 | 0.4 | 26.3 |
| PNC Financial Services Group Inc PNC | 92.4 | 13.6 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 36.7 | -7.0 | 17.6 |
| Itau Unibanco Banco Holding SA ITUB | 91.5 | 10.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 39.1 | 18.0 | 29.3 |
| Deutsche Bank AG DB | 73.5 | 10.3 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 33.4 | -8.3 | 11.7 |
| Nu Holdings Ltd NU | 67.3 | 21.7 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 48.2 | 43.0 | -13.1 |
| Median of companies shown | 92.4 | 14.7 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 38.2 | 6.2 | 17.6 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 147 | 18 | 16 | 0.61 | 33 | 435 | 4,506 |
| 2017 | 144 | -18 | -1 | -0.03 | 44 | 432 | 4,112 |
| 2018 | 158 | 14 | 12 | 0.45 | 49 | 436 | 4,040 |
| 2019 | 168 | 28 | 27 | 1.01 | 38 | 473 | 4,006 |
| 2020 | 164 | -45 | -46 | -1.74 | 8 | 440 | 4,179 |
| 2021 | 156 | 36 | 32 | 1.20 | 78 | 408 | 4,134 |
| 2022 | 179 | 62 | 50 | 2.04 | 71 | 329 | 4,205 |
| 2023 | 212 | 29 | 23 | 1.01 | 47 | 351 | 4,513 |
| 2024 | 240 | 31 | 25 | 1.06 | 37 | 384 | 4,659 |
| 2025 | 255 | 40 | 31 | 1.40 | 40 | 420 | 4,852 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | 0.36 | – | 61 | 14.50 | 13.60 | 12 | 8 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.39 | 53.40 | 62 | 6.10 | 14.50 | 6 | 5 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.37 | 77.30 | 62 | 4.00 | 13.80 | 10 | 8 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.24 | -0.40 | 64 | 4.00 | 8.50 | 12 | 10 |
| 2025: Q4 | 0.39 | 8.90 | 65 | 5.90 | 13.10 | 12 | 7 |
| 2026: Q1 | 3.93 | 902.90 | 130 | 110.20 | 65.90 | 304 | 302 |
| 2026: Q2 | 1.31 | 254.10 | – | – | – | -261 | -263 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 21 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Growth
Quality & Balance Sheet
Breakout & Setup
Momentum & Trend
- 21-EMA Trend
- Above the 50- & 200-SMA
- Gary Antonacci: Dual Momentum (Stock Adaptation)
- Mark Minervini: Trend Criteria — 1 Month
- Near 52-Week High
- Power Trend
- Richard Moglen: Top Performers 3/6 Month
- Stan Weinstein: Checklist
- Stan Weinstein: Stage 2
- Strength on Stress Days
Research
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | 5.76 | 5.45 – 6.29 | 260 | 314.6% | 3 |
| 12/31/2027 | 2.60 | 2.50 – 2.78 | 204 | -54.9% | 4 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
Today’s market value implies roughly 0.3% growth in free cash flow per year over ten years (assumptions: discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%).
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $58.8M |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $684.0M |
| Free cash flow in year ten | $60.4M |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | 46.5% |
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Künstliche Intelligenz kommt in den Berichten der Regionalbank ausschließlich als Risikohinweis vor; ein KI-Produkt, ein KI-Umsatz oder ein konkret benannter produktiver Einsatz wird nirgends belegt.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„The Company, as well as or its third-party vendors, clients or counterparties may continue to develop or incorporate AI technologies into certain business processes, products, and services."
Das Unternehmen sowie seine externen Dienstleister, Kunden oder Vertragspartner könnten KI-Techniken weiterhin in bestimmte Geschäftsprozesse, Produkte und Dienstleistungen entwickeln oder einbinden.
10-K · 2026-03-05 · View SEC filing
„The development and use of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) technologies present risks that could adversely affect the Company’s business, financial condition, and results of operations."
Die Entwicklung und Nutzung von Techniken der künstlichen Intelligenz („KI“) bringt Risiken mit sich, die sich nachteilig auf Geschäft, Finanzlage und Ertragslage des Unternehmens auswirken können.
10-K · 2026-03-05 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 10-K 2026-03-05 · 10-Q 2026-05-07 · 10-Q 2025-11-03 · 10-K 2025-03-07 · 8-K 2026-07-23
Rated on July 27, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years 12.4%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year -21.8%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year -3.0%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 18.7%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 61.7%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 0.0%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 310 m net cash
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 44 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 6.2%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 2.3%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
5/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 6.3%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% -10.5%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% 9.5%
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 36.4%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT -7.8x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 8
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 100.0%
- Return on equity > 15% 7.5%
- ROCE > 15% 6.2%
- Expected return > 10% 42.8%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 11, 2026 | Midkiff Catharine L. | Director | Sell | 1,000 | 31.25 | 31,250 |
| Aug 4, 2026 | Feldmann Gregory W | Director | Other | 280 | 35.16 | 9,845 |
| Jul 30, 2026 | Langs Bradford N. | PRESIDENT, CHIEF STRATEGY OFCR | Sell | 2,500 | 34.54 | 86,340 |
| Jul 30, 2026 | Bolton Robert M. | Director | Sell | 1,500 | 34.60 | 51,900 |
The company
About the Company
Carter Bankshares, Inc. ist die Bankholding der Carter Bank & Trust, die verschiedene Privat- und Geschäftskundenbankprodukte sowie Versicherungsdienstleistungen in den USA anbietet.
- Employees
- 687
- Headquarters
- Martinsville, VA
- Address
- 1300 Kings Mountain Road, 24112 Martinsville, United States
- Phone
- 276 656 1776
- Website
- carterbank.com
- IPO Date
- 08/27/2012
- ISIN
- US1461031064
- Stock Split
- 1:1 on 11/23/2020
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Litz H. Van Dyke | CEO & Director | 1964 |
| Phyllis Q. Karavatakis | Vice Chairman | 1956 |
| Wendy S. Bell | Senior EVP & Chief Financial Officer | 1964 |
| Kimberly Dempsey Schaufenbuel | Executive VP & Chief Human Resources Officer | – |
| A. Loran Adams | Executive VP & Director of Regulatory Risk Management | 1962 |
| Jayson Philbeck | Senior Vice President of Commercial Banking | – |
| Brad Wilson | Senior VP & Commercial Market Executive | – |
| Joyce A. Parker | Secretary | – |
| Misty Powell | Assistant Vice President | – |
| Bill Hubble | Vice President and Managing Officer of Blacksburg Office | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- 08/17/2026 Carter Bankshares, Inc. (CARE): Other Events SEC ↗
- 08/11/2026 Carter Bankshares, Inc. (CARE): Other Events SEC ↗
- 07/27/2026 Carter Bankshares, Inc. (CARE): Regulation FD Disclosure; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 07/23/2026 Carter Bankshares, Inc. (CARE): Other Events; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 07/23/2026 Carter Bankshares, Inc. (CARE): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.