Man Group plc Makes New Investment in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. $LOB

Man Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 71,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,935,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 157.4% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 671.6% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 138.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LOB shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Mark Michael Moroz sold 6,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 12,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $509,588.80. This represents a 33.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.61, for a total value of $349,524.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,122,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,708,306.86. The trade was a 0.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 36,454 shares of company stock valued at $1,526,341 in the last three months. 22.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Live Oak Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of Live Oak Bancshares stock opened at $39.31 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.33. The stock has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.84 and a beta of 1.87. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.36 and a 1-year high of $44.53.

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

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Live Oak Bancshares’s payout ratio is 4.23%.

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.