Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

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

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LOB opened at $42.40 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $39.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.68. Live Oak Bancshares has a 1 year low of $29.36 and a 1 year high of $43.85. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.93 and a beta of 1.88.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share 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 11.95%. The company had revenue of $156.15 million during the quarter. On average, equities analysts expect that Live Oak Bancshares will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Live Oak Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 2nd. Live Oak Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 4.60%.

Insider Activity at Live Oak Bancshares

In other news, insider Renato Derraik sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 4,243 shares in the company, valued at $160,512.69. The trade was a 94.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 $46,708,306.86. This trade represents a 0.74% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 91,800 shares of company stock valued at $3,523,194. 22.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOB. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 157.4% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings 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 valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in Live Oak Bancshares by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

More Live Oak Bancshares News

Here are the key news stories impacting Live Oak Bancshares this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Live Oak Bancshares reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of $0.74 per share, beating Wall Street estimates of $0.64 and improving from $0.51 a year ago, which is helping support the stock. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: The company also reported net income attributable to common shareholders of $34.7 million and revenue of $156.15 million, reinforcing that the quarter came in better than expected. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research upgraded Live Oak Bancshares from “hold” to “strong-buy,” adding another supportive catalyst for the stock. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts’ consensus recommendation remains “hold,” suggesting the recent optimism is not yet broadly reflected across Wall Street. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also reviewing the earnings call transcript and related commentary for more detail on the outlook and operating trends. Article title

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.