Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $44.80.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LOB shares. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Live Oak Bancshares from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th.

Insider Transactions at Live Oak Bancshares

In other Live Oak Bancshares news, insider Renato Derraik sold 75,000 shares of Live Oak Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.83, for a total transaction of $2,837,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 4,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,512.69. The trade was a 94.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.61, for a total value of $349,524.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,122,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,708,306.86. This trade represents a 0.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 91,800 shares of company stock worth $3,523,194 in the last 90 days. 22.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 157.4% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 671.6% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 138.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

Live Oak Bancshares Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of LOB opened at $41.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $39.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.63. Live Oak Bancshares has a 12 month low of $29.36 and a 12 month high of $43.85. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 1.88.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $156.15 million for the quarter. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.18% and a net margin of 11.79%. Equities research analysts predict that Live Oak Bancshares will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Live Oak Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Live Oak Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 4.60%.

About Live Oak Bancshares

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, and operates through its subsidiary Live Oak Banking Company. Founded in 2008, the company leverages a branchless, technology-driven platform to deliver specialty lending and deposit products across the United States. Live Oak Bancshares completed its initial public offering in February 2018 and trades on the NYSE under the ticker symbol LOB.

The company’s primary focus is on originating and servicing commercial loans for small businesses in select industry verticals.