Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOB) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the four ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $45.50.

Several research firms have issued reports on LOB. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Live Oak Bancshares from $57.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th.

Live Oak Bancshares Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ LOB opened at $39.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.91 and a beta of 1.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $44.92 and its 200 day moving average is $42.40. Live Oak Bancshares has a 1-year low of $31.03 and a 1-year high of $50.57.

Live Oak Bancshares (NASDAQ:LOB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.25). Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 7.99%. The business had revenue of $241.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $126.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Live Oak Bancshares will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 7.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Live Oak Bancshares

In other news, CAO John W. Sutherland sold 12,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total value of $616,812.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,015 shares in the company, valued at $686,735. The trade was a 47.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director William Henderson Cameron bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $39.76 per share, for a total transaction of $39,760.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 202,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,040,147.92. This trade represents a 0.50 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 23.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 98.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 68.4% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,026 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 87.5% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 1,885.5% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,323 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 2,206 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 161.4% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,165 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 1,954 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

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.