Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at TD Cowen

Key Points

• TD Cowen upgraded Live Oak Bancshares (LOB) to a Strong-Buy, while the analyst consensus remains a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $44.20.
• LOB posted a quarterly EPS of $0.95 versus $0.56 expected and revenue of $161.9M; the stock trades near $36.54 with a market cap of $1.68B and a P/E of 16.46.
• Insiders have sold 17,412 shares in the past 90 days (including recent GC and CFO sales), even as institutions—most notably Millennium Management—substantially increased their stake to 687,885 shares; institutional ownership is about 63.95%.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at TD Cowen to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

LOB has been the topic of several other reports. Zacks Research raised Live Oak Bancshares from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Live Oak Bancshares in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.20.

Live Oak Bancshares Price Performance

LOB stock opened at $36.54 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 1.90. The business's fifty day moving average price is $36.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.15. Live Oak Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $23.41 and a fifty-two week high of $42.89.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $161.86 million for the quarter. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 10.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Gregory W. Seward sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.70, for a total value of $110,100.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 113,797 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,176,349.90. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Walter J. Phifer sold 4,712 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.58, for a total value of $172,364.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,103 shares in the company, valued at $369,567.74. This trade represents a 31.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,412 shares of company stock valued at $660,862. Company insiders own 22.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Live Oak Bancshares

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LOB. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 28.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,592 shares of the company's stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 4,146 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,594 shares of the company's stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 655.6% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 687,885 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,339,000 after buying an additional 596,841 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 15.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 264,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,041,000 after buying an additional 34,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares in the first quarter valued at about $1,758,000. 63.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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