Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Price Target to $42.00

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut its price target on Live Oak Bancshares to $42.00 from $44.00 while maintaining an "outperform" rating, implying about a 13.7% upside from the prior close.
• Shares traded at $36.94 on Friday (market cap ~$1.69B, P/E 14.14) and the company reported quarterly EPS of $0.60 vs. consensus $0.54, with revenue marginally below estimates.
• Insiders were active in January (one purchase of 2,595 shares and a sale of 9,700 shares); insiders own 22.40% of the stock while institutional investors hold about 63.95%.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $44.00 to $42.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price objective would suggest a potential upside of 13.71% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research raised Live Oak Bancshares from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings raised Live Oak Bancshares from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen raised Live Oak Bancshares to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.00.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of LOB traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $36.94. The company had a trading volume of 49,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 310,065. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 1.90. Live Oak Bancshares has a 52-week low of $25.53 and a 52-week high of $42.89.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $145.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.02 million. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.36% and a net margin of 11.79%. Research analysts anticipate that Live Oak Bancshares will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Live Oak Bancshares news, insider Ewa Maria Stasiowska bought 2,595 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $38.53 per share, with a total value of $99,985.35. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,595 shares in the company, valued at $99,985.35. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Courtney Spencer sold 9,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.01, for a total value of $378,397.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,160 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $981,491.60. This trade represents a 27.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 17,412 shares of company stock worth $660,862 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 22.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,702,627 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,835,000 after purchasing an additional 17,181 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,545,210 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,424,000 after purchasing an additional 5,046 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,308,462 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,946,000 after acquiring an additional 63,325 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,261,000. Finally, Southernsun Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 1,029,108 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,350,000 after acquiring an additional 134,798 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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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