Park Avenue Securities LLC Takes Position in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOB)

Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOB) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,320 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,536,094 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,273,000 after purchasing an additional 27,086 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 1.0% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,560,218 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,701,000 after buying an additional 15,496 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 3.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,402,516 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,169,000 after buying an additional 48,018 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors bought a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the first quarter worth about $18,628,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 12,211.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 252,994 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,870,000 after buying an additional 250,939 shares in the last quarter. 63.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LOB. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $36.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $47.00 price target (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Live Oak Bancshares in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Live Oak Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO John W. Sutherland sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total transaction of $860,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,603 shares in the company, valued at $1,143,929. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 23.90% of the company’s stock.

Live Oak Bancshares Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of LOB stock opened at $48.32 on Tuesday. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.11 and a 12-month high of $50.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.80 and its 200 day moving average is $39.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28 and a beta of 1.60.

Live Oak Bancshares (NASDAQ:LOB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $232.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $123.08 million. Live Oak Bancshares had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 10.93%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Live Oak Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.03%.

About Live Oak Bancshares

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Live Oak Banking Company that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It operates through two segments, Banking and Fintech. The company accepts various deposit products, including noninterest-bearing demand, as well as interest-bearing checking, money market, savings, and time deposits.