LendingClub Co. (NYSE:LC) Short Interest Update

LendingClub Co. (NYSE:LC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,690,000 shares, an increase of 7.6% from the December 15th total of 4,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,920,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on LC. StockNews.com lowered LendingClub from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on LendingClub from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $17.00 price target (up previously from $14.00) on shares of LendingClub in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on LendingClub from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on LendingClub from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.63.

LendingClub Price Performance

NYSE LC opened at $16.68 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.19. LendingClub has a one year low of $7.48 and a one year high of $18.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.25 and a beta of 2.03.

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.06. LendingClub had a return on equity of 4.02% and a net margin of 6.85%. The firm had revenue of $201.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that LendingClub will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LendingClub news, CEO Scott Sanborn sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.12, for a total value of $274,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,312,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,152,406.08. This represents a 1.28 % 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 John C. Morris sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.36, for a total value of $35,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 203,348 shares in the company, valued at $2,920,077.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 75,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,158,610 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LendingClub

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LC. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of LendingClub in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LendingClub by 32.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,865 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LendingClub by 259.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,267 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 5,247 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of LendingClub by 38.3% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 16,748 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 4,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpha Cubed Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of LendingClub in the third quarter valued at approximately $170,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.08% of the company’s stock.

LendingClub Company Profile

LendingClub Corporation, operates as a bank holding company, that provides range of financial products and services in the United States. It offers deposit products, including savings accounts, checking accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides loan products, such as consumer loans comprising unsecured personal loans, secured auto refinance loans, and patient and education finance loans; and commercial loans, including small business loans.