Zacks Research Upgrades Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) to “Strong-Buy”

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

LOB has been the subject of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen reduced 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 research report on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Live Oak Bancshares from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.80.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of Live Oak Bancshares stock opened at $41.03 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $39.24 and its 200 day moving average is $37.63. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 1.88. Live Oak Bancshares has a one year low of $29.36 and a one year high of $43.85.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.10. Live Oak Bancshares had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 11.18%. The business had revenue of $156.15 million during the quarter. Analysts predict that Live Oak Bancshares will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Live Oak Bancshares

In related news, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.61, for a total transaction of $349,524.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,122,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,708,306.86. The trade was a 0.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Renato Derraik sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.83, for a total value of $2,837,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 4,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,512.69. The trade was a 94.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 91,800 shares of company stock worth $3,523,194. 22.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Live Oak Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $43,261,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,278,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 655.6% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 687,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,339,000 after purchasing an additional 596,841 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $19,181,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 366.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 519,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,313,000 after acquiring an additional 408,591 shares during the period. 63.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.