Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Cantor Fitzgerald Analyst Says

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald raised Live Oak Bancshares’ price target to $45 from $44 while maintaining a “neutral” rating, implying 5.74% upside. Analysts overall give the stock a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $46.40 target.
• Live Oak Bancshares reported quarterly EPS of $0.74, beating expectations of $0.64, on revenue of $156.15 million. The stock opened at $42.56 and was down 1.7%.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 63.95%, including new positions from BlackRock and Barrow Hanley, while insiders have sold 36,454 shares worth approximately $1.53 million over the past 90 days.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $44.00 to $45.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's target price indicates a potential upside of 5.74% from the company's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on LOB. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Live Oak Bancshares has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.40.

Live Oak Bancshares Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE:LOB opened at $42.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.38 and a 200-day moving average of $38.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 1.87. Live Oak Bancshares has a 52 week low of $29.36 and a 52 week high of $44.53.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $156.15 million for the quarter. Live Oak Bancshares had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 11.77%. As a group, analysts predict that Live Oak Bancshares will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.61, for a total transaction of $349,524.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,122,526 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,708,306.86. This trade represents a 0.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 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 value of $256,688.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 12,110 shares in the company, valued at $509,588.80. The trade was a 33.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,454 shares of company stock worth $1,526,341. 22.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LOB. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the second quarter worth about $143,588,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $55,546,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,261,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $22,278,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 655.6% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 687,885 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,339,000 after acquiring an additional 596,841 shares in the last quarter. 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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