NewEdge Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. $LOB

NewEdge Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:LOB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,259,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,261,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC owned approximately 2.75% of Live Oak Bancshares at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $298,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 23,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Live Oak Bancshares by 82.5% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 26,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $901,000 after purchasing an additional 11,847 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Live Oak Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $706,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $55,000. 63.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Live Oak Bancshares Trading Up 0.2%

LOB stock opened at $37.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.37. Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.19 and a 12-month high of $42.89. The company has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44 and a beta of 1.92.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $145.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.02 million. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.18% and a net margin of 11.79%. Equities analysts forecast that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Walter J. Phifer sold 4,712 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.58, for a total value of $172,364.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,567.74. This represents a 31.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Renato Derraik sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 4,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,512.69. This trade represents a 94.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 82,712 shares of company stock worth $3,119,715 over the last ninety days. 22.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LOB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Live Oak Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.40.

Live Oak Bancshares 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.