WCM Investment Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. $LOB

WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 153,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,955,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LOB. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 157.4% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 671.6% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 138.9% during 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. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the period. 63.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on LOB shares. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Live Oak Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Live Oak Bancshares

In related news, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.61, for a total transaction of $349,524.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,122,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,708,306.86. The trade was a 0.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Renato Derraik sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.83, for a total transaction of $2,837,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,512.69. This represents a 94.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 91,800 shares of company stock valued at $3,523,194. 22.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Live Oak Bancshares Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:LOB opened at $41.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95 and a beta of 1.88. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.36 and a 1 year high of $43.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.53.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.06. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.18% and a net margin of 11.79%.The company had revenue of $145.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.02 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.60%.

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.