Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Price Target Raised to $45.00

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) had its price target lifted by Cantor Fitzgerald from $44.00 to $45.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

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

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of LOB opened at $40.94 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $41.51 and its 200 day moving average is $38.40. Live Oak Bancshares has a 12-month low of $29.36 and a 12-month high of $44.53. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 1.87.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 11.77%. The business had revenue of $156.15 million during the quarter. On average, analysts expect that Live Oak Bancshares will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. Live Oak Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 4.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.08, for a total transaction of $361,872.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,114,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,996,548.08. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 company’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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 12,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $509,588.80. The trade was a 33.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 36,454 shares of company stock worth $1,526,341 over the last quarter. Insiders own 22.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 157.4% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 671.6% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 138.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.