Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Director Sells $88,720.00 in Stock

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

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Performance

NYSE:LOB opened at $42.52 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.16. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.36 and a fifty-two week high of $44.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97 and a beta of 1.87.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.10. The firm 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%. On average, research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 2nd. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.23%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOB. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp grew its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,718,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 38,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,323,000 after buying an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 0.9% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 70,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LOB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Live Oak Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.20.

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.