Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $42.60, but opened at $40.55. Live Oak Bancshares shares last traded at $40.4550, with a volume of 2,982 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LOB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.40.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Down 0.9%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $41.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 1.87.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $156.15 million for the quarter. Live Oak Bancshares had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 11.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Live Oak Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Live Oak Bancshares

In related news, insider Mark Michael Moroz sold 6,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total value of $256,688.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 12,110 shares in the company, valued at $509,588.80. This trade represents a 33.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David G. Lucht sold 2,000 shares of Live Oak Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.36, for a total transaction of $88,720.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $604,316.28. This represents a 12.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,454 shares of company stock worth $1,526,341. Insiders own 22.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Live Oak Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $143,588,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,702,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,835,000 after purchasing an additional 17,181 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 3.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,593,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,685,000 after purchasing an additional 54,750 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $55,546,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,308,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,946,000 after purchasing an additional 63,325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

Live Oak Bancshares Company Profile

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.