Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $46.20.

LOB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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 Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. 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 note on Monday, July 27th.

Live Oak Bancshares Trading Up 1.3%

Live Oak Bancshares stock opened at $42.78 on Wednesday. Live Oak Bancshares has a 12 month low of $29.36 and a 12 month high of $44.53. The company has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06 and a beta of 1.87. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.23.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.10. The business 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, equities research analysts predict that Live Oak Bancshares 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 2nd. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Live Oak Bancshares news, insider Mark Michael Moroz sold 6,100 shares of Live Oak Bancshares 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 12,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $509,588.80. The trade was a 33.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David G. Lucht sold 2,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director owned 13,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $604,316.28. This represents a 12.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,454 shares of company stock worth $1,526,341. 22.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Live Oak Bancshares

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $143,588,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $92,835,000 after acquiring an additional 17,181 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $52,685,000 after purchasing an additional 54,750 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 5.1% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC bought a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $43,261,000. 63.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.