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The following are today's upgrades for Validea's P/E/Growth Investor model based on the published strategy of Peter Lynch. This strategy looks for stocks trading at a reasonable price relative to earnings growth that also possess strong balance sheets.

WSFS FINANCIAL CORPORATION (WSFS) is a mid-cap value stock in the Regional Banks industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Peter Lynch changed from 72% to 80% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.

Company Description: WSFS Financial Corporation is a savings and loan holding company. The Company operates through its subsidiary, Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB (the Bank). The Company's segments include WSFS Bank, Cash Connect and Wealth Management. The WSFS Bank segment provides loans and leases, deposits and other financial products to commercial and consumer customers. WSFS Bank also offers a variety of consumer loan products, retail securities and insurance brokerage services through its branches, and mortgage and title services through WSFS Mortgage. Its Cash Connect segment provides ATM vault cash, smart safe and cash logistics services in the United States, servicing non-bank ATMs and smart safes nationwide and supporting ATMs for WSFS Bank Customers. The Wealth Management segment provides a range of planning and advisory services, investment management, personal and institutional trust services, and credit and deposit products to individual, corporate, and institutional clients.

The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.

Detailed Analysis of WSFS FINANCIAL CORPORATION

LIVE OAK BANCSHARES INC (LOB) is a small-cap growth stock in the Money Center Banks industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Peter Lynch changed from 85% to 93% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.

Company Description: Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. is a bank holding company. The Company conducts business operations through its commercial bank subsidiary, Live Oak Banking Company (the Bank). The Bank specializes in providing lending and deposit-related services to small businesses nationwide. Its segments include Banking and Fintech. Banking segment specializes in providing financing services to small businesses nationwide in industries and deposit-related services to small businesses, consumers, and other customers nationwide. The Fintech segment is involved in making strategic investments in emerging financial technology companies. The Fintech segment is comprised of the Company's direct wholly owned subsidiaries, Live Oak Ventures, Inc. and Canapi Advisors, LLC, and the investments held by those entities, as well as the Bank's investment in Apiture, Inc. The Bank's loan portfolio includes commercial and industrial loans, construction and development loans, commercial real estate, and commercial land.

The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.

Detailed Analysis of LIVE OAK BANCSHARES INC

About Peter Lynch: Perhaps the greatest mutual fund manager of all-time, Lynch guided Fidelity Investment's Magellan Fund to a 29.2 percent average annual return from 1977 until his retirement in 1990, almost doubling the S&P 500's 15.8 percent yearly return over that time. Lynch's common sense approach and quick wit made him one of the most quoted investors on Wall Street. ("Go for a business that any idiot can run -- because sooner or later, any idiot probably is going to run it," is one of his many pearls of wisdom.) Lynch's bestseller One Up on Wall Street is something of a "stocks for the everyman/everywoman", breaking his approach down into easy-to-understand concepts.

About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.