TD Cowen Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Stock Price

Key Points

• TD Cowen cut its price target on Live Oak Bancshares to $47 (from $51) but kept a "buy" rating, implying about a 24.64% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst coverage is mixed—two Buy and four Hold ratings yield a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target of $44.40—while the stock trades around $37.71 (market cap ~$1.73B).
• Live Oak beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.60 vs. $0.54) though revenue was slightly below expectations, and insiders (including the CFO and general counsel) recently sold shares, with insiders still owning about 22.4% of the company.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at TD Cowen from $51.00 to $47.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. TD Cowen's price target suggests a potential upside of 24.64% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on LOB. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $41.00 price target (up from $40.00) on shares of Live Oak Bancshares in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Live Oak Bancshares presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $44.40.

Live Oak Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of LOB traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $37.71. The stock had a trading volume of 114,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 310,648. Live Oak Bancshares has a 1-year low of $25.53 and a 1-year high of $42.89. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $35.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.24. The company has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 1.90.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.06. Live Oak Bancshares had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 11.36%. The business had revenue of $145.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.02 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Live Oak Bancshares will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Live Oak Bancshares

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

Institutional Trading of Live Oak Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 60.1% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,364 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 157.4% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 671.6% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the company's stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.95% of the company's stock.

About Live Oak Bancshares

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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