Financial Review: Lendingclub (HAPN) & Its Peers

Lendingclub (NASDAQ:HAPN) is one of 121 public companies in the “Consumer Finance” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Lendingclub to related businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, valuation, profitability and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

74.1% of Lendingclub shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.3% of shares of all “Consumer Finance” companies are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of Lendingclub shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 21.8% of shares of all “Consumer Finance” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Lendingclub and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lendingclub	$998.85 million	$135.68 million	10.14
Lendingclub Competitors	$3.58 billion	$381.70 million	6.71

Lendingclub’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Lendingclub. Lendingclub is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Volatility & Risk

Lendingclub has a beta of 1.86, suggesting that its stock price is 86% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lendingclub’s rivals have a beta of 1.24, suggesting that their average stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Lendingclub and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lendingclub	0	1	2	0	2.67
Lendingclub Competitors	906	3385	5286	272	2.50

Lendingclub currently has a consensus price target of $25.00, indicating a potential upside of 48.54%. As a group, “Consumer Finance” companies have a potential upside of 12.62%. Given Lendingclub’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Lendingclub is more favorable than its rivals.

Profitability

This table compares Lendingclub and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lendingclub	18.67%	12.92%	1.66%
Lendingclub Competitors	9.57%	-32.57%	2.25%

Summary

Lendingclub beats its rivals on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

Lendingclub Company Profile

LendingClub Corporation, operates as a bank holding company for LendingClub Bank, National Association that provides range of financial products and services through a technology-driven platform in the United States. The company provides commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, small business, and equipment loans, as well as leases equipment; and unsecured personal and auto, patient finance, and education finance loans. It also operates an online lending marketplace platform that connects borrowers and investors. LendingClub Corporation was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.