Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $44.40.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Live Oak Bancshares from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings cut Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Zacks Research upgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Renato Derraik sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.83, for a total transaction of $2,837,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 4,243 shares in the company, valued at $160,512.69. The trade was a 94.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 22.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOB. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,261,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $22,278,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 596,841 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,181,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 366.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 519,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,313,000 after purchasing an additional 408,591 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

Live Oak Bancshares Price Performance

NYSE LOB opened at $38.62 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 1.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $37.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.63. Live Oak Bancshares has a 1-year low of $27.76 and a 1-year high of $42.89.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 11.18% and a net margin of 11.79%. On average, analysts anticipate that Live Oak Bancshares will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Live Oak Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 2nd. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.