Whittier Trust Co. Increases Position in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. $LOB

Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 198,877 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,702 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Live Oak Bancshares were worth $7,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 60.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $63,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 138.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 111.2% in the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 6,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,000 after acquiring an additional 3,248 shares during the period. 63.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Walter J. Phifer sold 4,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.58, for a total value of $172,364.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,567.74. This trade represents a 31.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Gregory W. Seward sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.70, for a total value of $110,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 113,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,176,349.90. The trade was a 2.57% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 17,412 shares of company stock worth $660,862 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 22.40% of the company’s stock.

Live Oak Bancshares Price Performance

Live Oak Bancshares stock opened at $37.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86 and a beta of 1.90. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.41 and a 1-year high of $42.89. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.17.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $161.86 million during the quarter. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 10.09%.

Live Oak Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LOB shares. TD Cowen upgraded Live Oak Bancshares to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Live Oak Bancshares in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.20.

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.