Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Live Oak Bancshares from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.80.

Live Oak Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of LOB stock opened at $41.03 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.63. Live Oak Bancshares has a 1 year low of $29.36 and a 1 year high of $43.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 1.88.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $156.15 million during the quarter. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.18% and a net margin of 11.79%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Live Oak Bancshares will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Live Oak Bancshares

In other news, insider Renato Derraik sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.83, for a total transaction of $2,837,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 4,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,512.69. The trade was a 94.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.61, for a total transaction of $349,524.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,122,526 shares in the company, valued at $46,708,306.86. This represents a 0.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 91,800 shares of company stock valued at $3,523,194. Corporate insiders own 22.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position 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 worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 4,146 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 20,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 655.6% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 687,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,339,000 after purchasing an additional 596,841 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 15.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 264,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,041,000 after purchasing an additional 34,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares during the first quarter worth about $1,758,000. Institutional investors own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

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.