Reviewing LexinFintech (LX) and Its Competitors

LexinFintech (NASDAQ:LX) is one of 120 public companies in the “Consumer Finance” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare LexinFintech to related companies based on the strength of its earnings, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

45.8% of shares of all “Consumer Finance” companies are owned by institutional investors. 27.8% of LexinFintech shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 22.0% 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 stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

LexinFintech pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 45.4%. LexinFintech pays out 35.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Consumer Finance” companies pay a dividend yield of 6.1% and pay out 34.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares LexinFintech and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LexinFintech	7.94%	8.59%	4.50%
LexinFintech Competitors	9.92%	-15.65%	2.14%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares LexinFintech and its competitors revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
LexinFintech	$1.88 billion	$239.82 million	0.79
LexinFintech Competitors	$3.61 billion	$385.17 million	5.79

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for LexinFintech and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LexinFintech	1	2	0	0	1.67
LexinFintech Competitors	891	3351	5292	274	2.50

LexinFintech presently has a consensus price target of $2.35, suggesting a potential upside of 255.52%. As a group, “Consumer Finance” companies have a potential upside of 21.12%. Given LexinFintech’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe LexinFintech is more favorable than its competitors.

Volatility and Risk

LexinFintech has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LexinFintech’s competitors have a beta of 1.26, indicating that their average share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

LexinFintech competitors beat LexinFintech on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

About LexinFintech

LexinFintech Holdings Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides online consumer finance services in the People's Republic of China. The company operates Fenqile.com, an online consumption and consumer finance platform that offers installment purchase and personal installment loans, as well as online direct sales with installment payment terms; and Le Hua Card, a scenario-based lending. It also provides technology-driven platform services for financial institution customers and partners to increase revenues, manage financial risks, enhance operating efficiency and service quality, enhance collections, and reduce overall costs; Maiya application, a location-based services shopping experience with buy-now and pay-later options; and Juzi Licai, an online investment platform. In addition, the company offers technical support and consulting, software development, financing guarantee, and financial technology services. The company was formerly known as Staging Finance Holding Ltd. and changed its name to LexinFintech Holdings Ltd. in March 2017. LexinFintech Holdings Ltd. was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, the People's Republic of China.