LendingClub Co. (NYSE:LC) Short Interest Update

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Jordan Cheng sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.83, for a total value of $326,260.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 89,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,325,579.55. This represents a 19.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Scott Sanborn sold 17,000 shares of LendingClub stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.89, for a total transaction of $253,130.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,339,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,941,774.97. This represents a 1.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 75,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,158,610 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LendingClub

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LC. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in LendingClub during the third quarter worth $32,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of LendingClub by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,865 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LendingClub by 259.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,267 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 5,247 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in LendingClub by 38.3% during 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 purchased a new position in LendingClub in the third quarter valued at about $170,000. 74.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LendingClub Price Performance

Shares of LC stock traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $16.68. The stock had a trading volume of 755,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,737,184. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.25 and a beta of 2.03. LendingClub has a 12-month low of $7.48 and a 12-month high of $18.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $16.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.10.

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.06. LendingClub had a net margin of 6.85% and a return on equity of 4.02%. The company had revenue of $201.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.05 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that LendingClub will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of LendingClub from $15.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered LendingClub from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on LendingClub from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on LendingClub from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $17.00 price target (up from $14.00) on shares of LendingClub in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, LendingClub has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.63.

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.