Royal Bank of Canada Grows Stock Holdings in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. $LOB

Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) by 53.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 75,125 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,116 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Live Oak Bancshares were worth $2,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $22,278,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $43,261,000. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 160,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,520,000 after buying an additional 36,525 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP purchased a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $8,496,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the first quarter worth $4,955,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of Live Oak Bancshares stock opened at $43.21 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.22 and a beta of 1.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $41.19 and its 200 day moving average is $38.30. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $29.36 and a one year high of $44.53.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.10. The business 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%. Analysts predict that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on LOB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target 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. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at approximately $46,708,306.86. The trade was a 0.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Mark Michael Moroz sold 6,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total transaction of $256,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 36,454 shares of company stock valued at $1,526,341 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 22.40% of the company’s stock.

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.