Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Stock

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $45.00 to $47.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective points to a potential upside of 10.02% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target 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. 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 report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.80.

Live Oak Bancshares Price Performance

LOB traded up $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $42.72. The stock had a trading volume of 87,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 288,096. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.68. The firm has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 1.88. Live Oak Bancshares has a one year low of $29.36 and a one year high of $43.85.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 12.68%.The firm had revenue of $156.15 million for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Live Oak Bancshares will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Live Oak Bancshares

In other news, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.83, for a total value of $2,837,250.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 4,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,512.69. This represents a 94.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 91,800 shares of company stock valued at $3,523,194 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 22.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 157.4% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 671.6% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 138.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.