Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $42.60, but opened at $40.55. Live Oak Bancshares shares last traded at $40.4550, with a volume of 2,982 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on LOB shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen lifted 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. Finally, Zacks Research raised Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Live Oak Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.40.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Down 0.9%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 1.87.

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 11.77%. The firm had revenue of $156.15 million for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Live Oak Bancshares news, insider Mark Michael Moroz sold 6,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 33.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.08, for a total value of $361,872.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,114,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,996,548.08. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,454 shares of company stock valued at $1,526,341. 22.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Live Oak Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $22,278,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $43,261,000. Royce & Associates LP bought a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,496,000. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 160,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,520,000 after buying an additional 36,525 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the first quarter valued at approximately $4,955,000. 63.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.