Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOB) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOB) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the three brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.50.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LOB shares. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Live Oak Bancshares in a research report on Monday, April 1st. TheStreet downgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 27th.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LOB opened at $37.54 on Tuesday. Live Oak Bancshares has a 52-week low of $19.53 and a 52-week high of $47.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.89 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.97.

Live Oak Bancshares (NASDAQ:LOB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.20). Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 9.24%. The firm had revenue of $119.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.36 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Live Oak Bancshares will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Live Oak Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 7.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Live Oak Bancshares

In other Live Oak Bancshares news, Director Miltom Emmett Petty sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.73, for a total transaction of $397,300.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 121,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,844,715.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Live Oak Bancshares news, insider Micah S. Davis sold 8,613 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total transaction of $343,400.31. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,748,857.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Miltom Emmett Petty sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.73, for a total value of $397,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 121,941 shares in the company, valued at $4,844,715.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 23.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LOB. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 66.0% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 1,127.6% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,136 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Toth Financial Advisory Corp raised its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 2,125.0% during the third quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 2,225 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 82.9% during the first quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 2,785 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262 shares during the period. 63.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.