Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Raised to Hold at Zacks Research

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Live Oak Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $53.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.20.

Live Oak Bancshares Price Performance

LOB opened at $31.79 on Tuesday. Live Oak Bancshares has a 12-month low of $22.68 and a 12-month high of $42.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32 and a beta of 1.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $37.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.59.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Live Oak Bancshares

In related news, General Counsel Gregory W. Seward sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.70, for a total transaction of $110,100.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 113,797 shares in the company, valued at $4,176,349.90. This represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Courtney Spencer sold 9,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.01, for a total transaction of $378,397.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,160 shares in the company, valued at $981,491.60. This represents a 27.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,412 shares of company stock valued at $660,862. Corporate insiders own 23.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LOB. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 64,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,209,000 after purchasing an additional 5,445 shares during the period. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp grew its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,718,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 43.9% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 223,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,680,000 after buying an additional 68,222 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $1,197,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 178,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,147,000 after buying an additional 13,682 shares during the period. 63.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.