Empowered Funds LLC Takes $3.64 Million Position in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. $LOB

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 89,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,643,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp lifted its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,718,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 38,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,323,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 0.9% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 70,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,490,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 63.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Live Oak Bancshares Price Performance

NYSE:LOB opened at $38.62 on Wednesday. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $29.36 and a one year high of $44.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.31. The stock has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 1.86.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.10. Live Oak Bancshares had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 11.77%. The company had revenue of $156.15 million for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LOB. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. TD Cowen raised their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.40.

Insider Activity at Live Oak Bancshares

In other Live Oak Bancshares news, insider Mark Michael Moroz sold 6,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total value of $256,688.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 12,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $509,588.80. This represents a 33.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.08, for a total value of $361,872.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,114,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,996,548.08. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,454 shares of company stock worth $1,526,341. Company insiders own 22.40% 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.