LendingClub (NYSE:LC) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of LendingClub Co. (NYSE:LC) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $16.50 and last traded at $16.28, with a volume of 92533 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $15.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of LendingClub from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $11.50 to $15.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $15.00 price target (up previously from $13.00) on shares of LendingClub in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of LendingClub from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of LendingClub from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Maxim Group raised their target price on LendingClub from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LendingClub has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.38.

LendingClub Stock Up 5.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.35 and a beta of 2.01. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.95.

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.40 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that LendingClub Co. will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John C. Morris sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.36, for a total value of $35,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 203,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,920,077.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Jordan Cheng sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.83, for a total transaction of $326,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 89,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,325,579.55. This represents a 19.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 75,500 shares of company stock valued at $996,940. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LendingClub

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LC. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in LendingClub by 120.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,517,986 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,351,000 after purchasing an additional 828,958 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of LendingClub by 98.1% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,547,342 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,686,000 after purchasing an additional 766,287 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of LendingClub by 24.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,658,679 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $14,032,000 after buying an additional 329,279 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP bought a new stake in LendingClub in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,821,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in LendingClub by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,898,545 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $49,901,000 after buying an additional 300,536 shares in the last quarter. 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.