Analyzing 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 competitors? We will compare Lendingclub to similar businesses based on the strength of its earnings, profitability, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

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

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lendingclub and its competitors top-line 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 competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Lendingclub. Lendingclub is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Lendingclub and its competitors, 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, suggesting 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, research analysts plainly believe Lendingclub is more favorable than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares Lendingclub and its competitors’ 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%

Risk and Volatility

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

Summary

Lendingclub beats its competitors 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.