LendingClub Co. (NYSE:LC – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,080,000 shares, a growth of 5.5% from the July 15th total of 7,660,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,880,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LC shares. Credit Suisse Group lowered their price target on shares of LendingClub from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 28th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of LendingClub to $20.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, LendingClub has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.40.
Insider Activity
In other news, insider Annie Armstrong sold 2,027 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $30,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 101,601 shares in the company, valued at $1,524,015. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Fergal Stack sold 5,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.06, for a total value of $75,994.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 127,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,792,650. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Annie Armstrong sold 2,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $30,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 101,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,524,015. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,035 shares of company stock valued at $498,139. Insiders own 3.22% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of LendingClub in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of LendingClub in the first quarter worth about $30,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in LendingClub by 367.2% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 2,049 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in LendingClub by 45.8% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,232 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of LendingClub by 1,610.3% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,499 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 6,119 shares during the period. 80.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
LendingClub Price Performance
Shares of LC stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $15.70. 1,235,232 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,281,776. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.91. LendingClub has a fifty-two week low of $11.16 and a fifty-two week high of $49.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 2.01.
LendingClub (NYSE:LC – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 27th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.05. LendingClub had a return on equity of 27.96% and a net margin of 24.75%. The business had revenue of $330.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $298.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.09 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 61.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that LendingClub will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.
About LendingClub
LendingClub Corporation, operates as a bank holding company for LendingClub Bank, National Association that provides range of financial products and services through a technology-driven platform in the United States. The company provides commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, small business, and equipment loans, as well as leases equipment; and unsecured personal and auto, patient finance, and education finance loans.