Sheets Smith Investment Management Invests $660,000 in LendingClub Corporation $LC

Sheets Smith Investment Management purchased a new stake in LendingClub Corporation (NYSE:LC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 43,435 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $660,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in LendingClub by 1,427.2% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,810 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in shares of LendingClub in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of LendingClub in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Marex Group plc acquired a new position in LendingClub during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $120,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new position in LendingClub during the 2nd quarter worth $121,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on LC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on LendingClub from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective (up from $18.00) on shares of LendingClub in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Janney Montgomery Scott boosted their target price on shares of LendingClub from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LendingClub in a research report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research raised LendingClub from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LendingClub currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.57.

LendingClub Stock Up 6.7%

Shares of LC opened at $19.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30 and a beta of 2.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $17.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.44. LendingClub Corporation has a 52-week low of $7.90 and a 52-week high of $20.94.

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The credit services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $107.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.27 million. LendingClub had a net margin of 10.94% and a return on equity of 7.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that LendingClub Corporation will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.

LendingClub declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to buy up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Scott Sanborn sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.29, for a total transaction of $578,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,210,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,342,250.30. This trade represents a 2.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Erin Selleck sold 2,390 shares of LendingClub stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.47, for a total value of $46,533.30. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 76,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,487,060.19. The trade was a 3.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.19% 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.