Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. $LOB

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,702,627 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,181 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.06% of Live Oak Bancshares worth $92,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOB. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Live Oak Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $323,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 106,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,867,000 after acquiring an additional 3,272 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 198,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,233,000 after acquiring an additional 20,702 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 335.2% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 5,997 shares during the period. 63.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Walter J. Phifer sold 4,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.58, for a total transaction of $172,364.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,567.74. This trade represents a 31.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Gregory W. Seward sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,176,349.90. The trade was a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 82,712 shares of company stock worth $3,119,715 over the last three months. Insiders own 22.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LOB shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Live Oak Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.40.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE LOB opened at $35.75 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 1.92. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.19 and a 52 week high of $42.89.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $145.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $146.02 million. Live Oak Bancshares had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 11.18%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Live Oak Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 4.60%.

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.