LendingClub (NYSE:LC) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

LC has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of LendingClub from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on LendingClub from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Maxim Group raised their target price on LendingClub from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $15.00 target price (up from $13.00) on shares of LendingClub in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised LendingClub from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $11.50 to $15.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.38.

LendingClub Price Performance

Shares of LendingClub stock traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $13.59. The company had a trading volume of 2,407,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,446,909. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.02. The stock has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 35.76 and a beta of 2.04. LendingClub has a 1-year low of $4.73 and a 1-year high of $15.52.

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $201.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.40 million. LendingClub had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 3.38%. LendingClub’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that LendingClub will post 0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at LendingClub

In related news, CEO Scott Sanborn sold 17,000 shares of LendingClub stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.36, for a total value of $193,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,373,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,600,381.28. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 51,703 shares of company stock valued at $562,705. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in LendingClub by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,270,308 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $98,502,000 after purchasing an additional 336,827 shares during the period. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in LendingClub in the first quarter worth about $164,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in LendingClub by 38.2% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 143,839 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,264,000 after purchasing an additional 39,733 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in LendingClub by 8.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 314,729 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,766,000 after purchasing an additional 23,790 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in LendingClub by 1.0% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 216,360 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the period. 74.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About LendingClub

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.