Cantor Fitzgerald Issues Positive Forecast for Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Stock Price

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $44.00 to $45.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 5.74% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on LOB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Live Oak Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.40.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Performance

LOB stock opened at $42.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 1.87. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.36. Live Oak Bancshares has a 52 week low of $29.36 and a 52 week high of $44.53.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $156.15 million during the quarter. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.77% and a net margin of 12.68%. Sell-side analysts predict that Live Oak Bancshares will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Live Oak Bancshares

In other Live Oak Bancshares news, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.08, for a total value of $361,872.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,114,126 shares in the company, valued at $47,996,548.08. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Mark Michael 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 transaction, the insider owned 12,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $509,588.80. The trade was a 33.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,454 shares of company stock worth $1,526,341. Insiders own 22.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Live Oak Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $143,588,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the second quarter worth $55,546,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC bought a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $43,261,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $22,278,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 655.6% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 687,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,339,000 after buying an additional 596,841 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

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.