Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Director David Lucht Sells 2,000 Shares

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) Director David Lucht sold 2,000 shares of Live Oak Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.36, for a total transaction of $88,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $604,316.28. This trade represents a 12.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Performance

LOB traded up $0.13 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.76. The stock had a trading volume of 252,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 286,395. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 1.87. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.36 and a twelve month high of $44.53. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.05.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $156.15 million during the quarter. Live Oak Bancshares had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 11.95%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Live Oak Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on LOB. Weiss Ratings upgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective 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 raised their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,702,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,835,000 after acquiring an additional 17,181 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,593,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,685,000 after purchasing an additional 54,750 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,308,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,946,000 after purchasing an additional 63,325 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $43,261,000. Finally, Southernsun Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 0.4% during the first quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 1,033,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,179,000 after purchasing an additional 4,431 shares in the last quarter. 63.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.