Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Analysts

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.50.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LOB shares. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $49.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th.

Live Oak Bancshares Price Performance

NYSE LOB opened at $35.22 on Monday. Live Oak Bancshares has a 1-year low of $29.36 and a 1-year high of $44.53. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 1.94.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.12). Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 12.22%. The business had revenue of $175.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.50 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Live Oak Bancshares will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.27%.

Insider Transactions at Live Oak Bancshares

In other Live Oak Bancshares news, insider Mark Moroz sold 6,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total transaction of $256,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $43.08, for a total transaction of $361,872.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,114,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,996,548.08. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months, insiders have sold 26,654 shares of company stock valued at $1,114,424. 22.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $143,588,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $55,546,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 3.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,593,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,685,000 after acquiring an additional 54,750 shares during the last quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 1,033,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,179,000 after purchasing an additional 4,431 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 61.6% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 586,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,939,000 after acquiring an additional 223,487 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

About Live Oak Bancshares

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc is the parent company of Live Oak Bank, a digital-focused financial institution headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina. Founded in 2008, the company specializes in providing banking services to small and mid-sized businesses, with a particular emphasis on loans to owners of professional and industry-specific businesses.

Through Live Oak Bank, the company offers commercial lending, Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, business deposits, treasury management and other financial services.