Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Upgraded at TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Live Oak Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.20.

Live Oak Bancshares Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Live Oak Bancshares stock opened at $36.55 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.15. Live Oak Bancshares has a 12-month low of $23.41 and a 12-month high of $42.89. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 1.90.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $161.86 million during the quarter. Live Oak Bancshares had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 9.71%.

Live Oak Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Live Oak Bancshares

In related news, insider Courtney Spencer sold 9,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.01, for a total transaction of $378,397.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 25,160 shares in the company, valued at $981,491.60. This represents a 27.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Gregory W. Seward sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,176,349.90. The trade was a 2.57% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 17,412 shares of company stock worth $660,862 in the last quarter. 22.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Live Oak Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,718,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 9.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 13,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 38,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,323,000 after acquiring an additional 468 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.