WCM Investment Management LLC Buys New Stake in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. $LOB

WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 153,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,955,000. WCM Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.33% of Live Oak Bancshares at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 157.4% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 671.6% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 138.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on LOB. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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 report on Friday, April 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.80.

Insider Activity at Live Oak Bancshares

In related news, insider Renato Derraik sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.83, for a total value of $2,837,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 4,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,512.69. This trade represents a 94.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.61, for a total transaction of $349,524.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,122,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,708,306.86. This represents a 0.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 91,800 shares of company stock worth $3,523,194. 22.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE LOB opened at $41.62 on Tuesday. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.36 and a 12 month high of $43.85. The company has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95 and a beta of 1.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.53.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $145.47 million for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 2nd. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.60%.

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.