Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $43.86 and last traded at $43.7780, with a volume of 286396 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on LOB. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.20.

Live Oak Bancshares Trading Up 0.1%

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $40.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 1.87.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.10. Live Oak Bancshares had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 11.95%. The firm had revenue of $156.15 million for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts expect that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were 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 trade represents a 0.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Mark Michael Moroz sold 6,100 shares of Live Oak Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total value of $256,688.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 12,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $509,588.80. This represents a 33.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 25,900 shares of company stock worth $1,069,022 over the last ninety days. 22.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LOB. NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,261,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $22,278,000. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 160,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,520,000 after purchasing an additional 36,525 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $8,496,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the first quarter worth about $4,955,000. 63.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.