Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOB) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOB - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the three brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.50.

LOB has been the topic of several recent research reports. TheStreet cut Live Oak Bancshares from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares in a research report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com cut Live Oak Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Live Oak Bancshares from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th.

Insider Transactions at Live Oak Bancshares

In other news, Director Miltom Emmett Petty sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.73, for a total transaction of $397,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 121,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,844,715.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Micah S. Davis sold 8,613 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total transaction of $343,400.31. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,864 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,748,857.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Miltom Emmett Petty sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.73, for a total transaction of $397,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 121,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,844,715.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 24.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 66.0% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the bank's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 2,125.0% in the third quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 2,225 shares of the bank's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125 shares during the period. Amundi bought a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $92,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 1,127.6% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,136 shares of the bank's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 82.9% during the first quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 2,785 shares of the bank's stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.95% of the company's stock.

Live Oak Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of LOB traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $41.58. 75,625 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 165,889. The business's 50-day moving average price is $39.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.72. Live Oak Bancshares has a twelve month low of $19.53 and a twelve month high of $47.22. The company has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.35 and a beta of 1.60.

Live Oak Bancshares (NASDAQ:LOB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $119.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.36 million. Live Oak Bancshares had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 8.67%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Live Oak Bancshares will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Live Oak Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Live Oak Bancshares's payout ratio is 7.32%.

About Live Oak Bancshares

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Live Oak Banking Company that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It operates through two segments, Banking and Fintech. The company accepts various deposit products, including noninterest-bearing demand, as well as interest-bearing checking, money market, savings, and time deposits.