Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $45.50

Shares of Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.50.

LOB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research lowered Live Oak Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Live Oak Bancshares

In other Live Oak Bancshares news, Director Tonya Bradford sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.89, for a total value of $63,824.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $320,835.27. This represents a 16.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark Moroz sold 6,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total value of $256,688.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 12,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 sold 29,654 shares of company stock worth $1,240,814 over the last three months. 22.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Live Oak Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 98.9% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 26.4% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 15,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $621,000 after buying an additional 3,180 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 3.1% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 16,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $688,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the second quarter worth approximately $326,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $3,643,000. 63.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Live Oak Bancshares Trading Down 6.2%

NYSE:LOB opened at $34.24 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $39.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.58. The company has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 1.94. Live Oak Bancshares has a twelve month low of $29.36 and a twelve month high of $44.53.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.10. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.77% and a net margin of 12.68%.The firm had revenue of $156.15 million during the quarter. As a group, analysts expect that Live Oak Bancshares will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Live Oak Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.23%.

About Live Oak Bancshares

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc is a financial holding company headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina. Through its principal subsidiary, Live Oak Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to small and middle-market businesses, professionals, entrepreneurs and individuals.

Live Oak Bank is known for its specialized lending model, including Small Business Administration (SBA) loans and financing for businesses in industries such as veterinary medicine, healthcare, agriculture, investment advisory and government contracting.