The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Invests $11.56 Million in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. $LOB

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 283,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,563,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 157.4% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings 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. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 138.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.40.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of LOB opened at $40.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 1.87. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.36 and a 52 week high of $44.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.36.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.10. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.77% and a net margin of 12.68%.The company had revenue of $156.15 million for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Live Oak Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. Live Oak Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 4.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Live Oak Bancshares

In other news, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.61, for a total transaction of $349,524.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,122,526 shares in the company, valued at $46,708,306.86. This trade represents a 0.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Mark Michael Moroz sold 6,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total transaction of $256,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 12,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $509,588.80. This represents a 33.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 36,454 shares of company stock worth $1,526,341. 22.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.