Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $42.50 According to Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts hold a neutral view of Live Oak Bancshares, with four “hold” and two “buy” ratings and a consensus 12-month price target of $42.50.
• The stock opened at $35.22, below the consensus target, while recent analyst actions were mixed: some raised targets and others cut them, generally maintaining neutral or outperform ratings.
• Live Oak Bancshares reported quarterly EPS of $0.52, missing the $0.64 estimate, although revenue of $175.65 million exceeded expectations. The company also pays a small quarterly dividend of $0.03 per share, yielding approximately 0.3%.

Shares of Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $42.50.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LOB. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $49.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Performance

LOB opened at $35.22 on Monday. Live Oak Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $29.36 and a fifty-two week high of $44.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $37.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 1.94.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.12). Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 12.22%. The firm had revenue of $175.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $167.50 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Live Oak Bancshares will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. Live Oak Bancshares's payout ratio is 4.27%.

Insider Activity at Live Oak Bancshares

In related news, Director Tonya Bradford sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.89, for a total value of $63,824.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at $320,835.27. This trade represents a 16.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark Moroz sold 6,100 shares of Live Oak Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total value of $256,688.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 12,110 shares in the company, valued at $509,588.80. This trade represents a 33.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,654 shares of company stock valued at $1,114,424. Corporate insiders own 22.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Live Oak Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 117.2% during the third quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 949 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted 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 in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 671.6% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $128,000. 63.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Live Oak Bancshares Company Profile

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc is the parent company of Live Oak Bank, a digital-focused financial institution headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina. Founded in 2008, the company specializes in providing banking services to small and mid-sized businesses, with a particular emphasis on loans to owners of professional and industry-specific businesses.

Through Live Oak Bank, the company offers commercial lending, Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, business deposits, treasury management and other financial services.

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