Royce & Associates LP Purchases Shares of 247,341 Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. $LOB

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP disclosed a new position in Live Oak Bancshares, buying 247,341 shares worth about $8.5 million in the fourth quarter, giving it roughly 0.54% ownership.
• Live Oak Bancshares reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting EPS of $0.60 versus the $0.54 consensus, though revenue slightly missed estimates.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.03 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a Hold with a consensus target price of $44.40.

Royce & Associates LP purchased a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 247,341 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,496,000. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.54% of Live Oak Bancshares as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 60.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,364 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 157.4% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 138.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,182 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,926 shares of the company's stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.95% of the company's stock.

Live Oak Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of Live Oak Bancshares stock opened at $37.63 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $35.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 1.92. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $26.77 and a one year high of $42.89.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $145.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $146.02 million. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.18% and a net margin of 11.79%. Sell-side analysts expect that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Live Oak Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 2nd. Live Oak Bancshares's payout ratio is 4.60%.

Insider Transactions at Live Oak Bancshares

In other news, insider Renato Derraik sold 75,000 shares of Live Oak Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.83, for a total value of $2,837,250.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 4,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,512.69. This trade represents a 94.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Gregory W. Seward sold 3,000 shares of Live Oak Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.70, for a total value of $110,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 113,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,176,349.90. This represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 82,712 shares of company stock worth $3,119,715. 22.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LOB has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $44.40.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LOB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.