Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Invests $5.72 Million in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. $LOB

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC bought a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 140,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,724,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned about 0.30% of Live Oak Bancshares at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in Live Oak Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 157.4% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 671.6% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 138.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. 63.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of LOB stock opened at $43.23 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22 and a beta of 1.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.30 and a 200 day moving average of $38.33. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.36 and a 52 week high of $44.53.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.10. Live Oak Bancshares had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 11.77%. The business had revenue of $156.15 million for the quarter. Equities research analysts anticipate that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on LOB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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 raised 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 report on Tuesday, July 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.20.

Insider Activity at Live Oak Bancshares

In related news, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.61, for a total value of $349,524.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,122,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,708,306.86. This represents a 0.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total transaction of $256,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 12,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $509,588.80. This trade represents a 33.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 36,454 shares of company stock worth $1,526,341 over the last 90 days. 22.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Live Oak Bancshares 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.