Royal Bank of Canada Grows Position in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. $LOB

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) by 53.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,125 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,116 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.16% of Live Oak Bancshares worth $2,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,702,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,835,000 after buying an additional 17,181 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,593,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,685,000 after acquiring an additional 54,750 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,308,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,946,000 after acquiring an additional 63,325 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Live Oak Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,261,000. Finally, Southernsun Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 1,033,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,179,000 after acquiring an additional 4,431 shares during the period. 63.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of Live Oak Bancshares stock opened at $43.21 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22 and a beta of 1.87. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.36 and a 52-week high of $44.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.30.

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

Live Oak Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 4.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LOB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, July 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Live Oak Bancshares

In other Live Oak Bancshares news, insider Mark Michael Moroz sold 6,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total transaction of $256,688.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 12,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $509,588.80. This trade represents a 33.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of Live Oak Bancshares stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.08, for a total value of $361,872.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,114,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,996,548.08. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 36,454 shares of company stock worth $1,526,341. Insiders own 22.40% 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.