LendingClub Corporation (NYSE:LC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of LendingClub Corporation (NYSE:LC) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.5714.

LC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BTIG Research upped their price objective on LendingClub from $18.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LendingClub in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of LendingClub from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research upgraded LendingClub from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott upped their price objective on LendingClub from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at LendingClub

In other LendingClub news, Director Erin Selleck sold 2,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.47, for a total transaction of $46,533.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 76,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,487,060.19. This trade represents a 3.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Sanborn sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $23,342,250.30. This represents a 2.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LC. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of LendingClub by 7.4% during the second quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 10,232 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in LendingClub by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 23,482 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LendingClub by 8.8% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 13,354 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 1,084 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of LendingClub by 46.7% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,051 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in shares of LendingClub by 5.3% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 25,840 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. 74.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

LendingClub Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LC opened at $19.62 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $18.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.90. LendingClub has a one year low of $7.90 and a one year high of $20.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30 and a beta of 2.14.

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The credit services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $107.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.27 million. LendingClub had a return on equity of 7.68% and a net margin of 10.94%.LendingClub’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that LendingClub will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

About LendingClub

LendingClub Corporation operates an online lending marketplace that connects borrowers seeking personal and small business credit with individual and institutional investors. The platform leverages technology to streamline the loan application and underwriting process, offering unsecured personal loans, auto refinancing, and small business loans. In addition to lending products, LendingClub provides high-yield savings accounts and certificates of deposit through its banking charter, following its acquisition of Radius Bank in 2021.

Founded in 2006 by Renaud Laplanche, LendingClub pioneered peer-to-peer lending in the United States, helping to democratize access to credit and investment opportunities.