Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Live Oak Bancshares from “strong buy” to “hold,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $46.40.
• Live Oak Bancshares opened at $38.62, with a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, while its latest quarterly earnings of $0.74 per share exceeded consensus estimates of $0.64.
• Insiders sold 36,454 shares worth approximately $1.53 million in the last quarter, while institutional investors own a substantial 63.95% stake in the company.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on LOB. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Live Oak Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.40.

Live Oak Bancshares Price Performance

Live Oak Bancshares stock opened at $38.62 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 1.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.68 and a 200-day moving average of $38.31. Live Oak Bancshares has a one year low of $29.36 and a one year high of $44.53.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $156.15 million for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Live Oak Bancshares will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Live Oak Bancshares

In other Live Oak Bancshares news, Director David G. Lucht sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.36, for a total transaction of $88,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,623 shares of the company's stock, valued at $604,316.28. This trade represents a 12.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark Michael Moroz sold 6,100 shares of Live Oak Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total transaction of $256,688.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,110 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $509,588.80. This trade represents a 33.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,454 shares of company stock worth $1,526,341. Company insiders own 22.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Live Oak Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LOB. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $143,588,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,702,627 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,835,000 after acquiring an additional 17,181 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 4,962.5% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,668,641 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,635,680 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 3.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,593,185 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,685,000 after acquiring an additional 54,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new position in Live Oak Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $55,546,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.95% of the company's stock.

Live Oak Bancshares Company Profile

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.

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