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

Shares of Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.40.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings cut Live Oak Bancshares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Zacks Research lowered Live Oak Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Live Oak Bancshares

In other news, insider Mark Moroz sold 6,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total value of $256,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 12,110 shares in the company, valued at $509,588.80. This represents a 33.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Tonya Bradford sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.89, for a total transaction of $63,824.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $320,835.27. This represents a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 46,454 shares of company stock worth $1,926,758 over the last three months. 22.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $22,278,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,261,000. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 160,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,520,000 after buying an additional 36,525 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,496,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,267,000. 63.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Live Oak Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of LOB stock opened at $39.30 on Friday. Live Oak Bancshares has a 1-year low of $29.36 and a 1-year high of $44.53. The company has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84 and a beta of 1.86. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.27.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last issued its quarterly 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 11.77%. Analysts anticipate that Live Oak Bancshares will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. Live Oak Bancshares’s payout ratio is 4.23%.

About Live Oak Bancshares

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc is a financial holding company headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina. Its principal subsidiary, Live Oak Bank, is a digital, branchless bank focused on serving small and midsize businesses, business owners and professionals across the United States.

Live Oak Bank provides commercial loans, including Small Business Administration (SBA) lending, along with business checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, treasury management and other banking services.