Live Oak Bancshares (NASDAQ:LOB) Trading Down 4.1% Following Analyst Downgrade

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOB) were down 4.1% during trading on Friday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $47.00 to $38.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Live Oak Bancshares traded as low as $32.88 and last traded at $32.88. Approximately 172,381 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 3% from the average daily volume of 167,386 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.28.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. TheStreet downgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (down from $45.00) on shares of Live Oak Bancshares in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Live Oak Bancshares news, insider Micah S. Davis sold 8,613 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total value of $343,400.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,864 shares in the company, valued at $1,748,857.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Miltom Emmett Petty sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.73, for a total value of $397,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 121,941 shares in the company, valued at $4,844,715.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Micah S. Davis sold 8,613 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.87, for a total value of $343,400.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,748,857.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 23.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Live Oak Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,509,008 shares of the bank’s stock worth $114,160,000 after buying an additional 27,451 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,327,754 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,415,000 after purchasing an additional 61,029 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co of the South acquired a new position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,042,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 287,714 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,329,000 after purchasing an additional 4,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 259,231 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,795,000 after purchasing an additional 2,979 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

Live Oak Bancshares Trading Down 3.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67 and a beta of 1.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $39.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.39.

Live Oak Bancshares (NASDAQ:LOB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $119.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.36 million. Live Oak Bancshares had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 10.45%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Live Oak Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 6.03%.

About Live Oak Bancshares

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Live Oak Banking Company that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It operates through two segments, Banking and Fintech. The company accepts various deposit products, including noninterest-bearing demand, as well as interest-bearing checking, money market, savings, and time deposits.