Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 817,500 Shares of LexinFintech Holdings Ltd. Sponsored ADR $LX

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board significantly reduced its stake in LexinFintech Holdings by 68.5%, selling 817,500 shares and retaining just 376,500 shares worth approximately $3.8 million.
• Despite the pension fund's sell-off, other investors, such as Trexquant Investment LP and OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp, have increased their positions in LexinFintech during the same period, indicating mixed sentiment among large shareholders.
• Analysts have downgraded LexinFintech from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, while the company recently reported an earnings per share of $0.40, exceeding forecasts, and approved a semi-annual dividend of $0.194 per share.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board cut its stake in shares of LexinFintech Holdings Ltd. Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:LX - Free Report) by 68.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 376,500 shares of the company's stock after selling 817,500 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.22% of LexinFintech worth $3,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LX. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new position in LexinFintech during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,048,000. WT Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of LexinFintech in the first quarter valued at $20,483,000. BRIGHT VALLEY CAPITAL Ltd raised its stake in shares of LexinFintech by 33.0% during the first quarter. BRIGHT VALLEY CAPITAL Ltd now owns 5,305,208 shares of the company's stock worth $53,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,208 shares during the last quarter. MY.Alpha Management HK Advisors Ltd purchased a new position in shares of LexinFintech during the 1st quarter worth about $9,496,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in LexinFintech by 2,043.0% in the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 773,029 shares of the company's stock worth $4,484,000 after acquiring an additional 736,957 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered LexinFintech from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.60.

LexinFintech Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of LX stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $6.11. The stock had a trading volume of 879,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,500,907. The firm's 50-day moving average is $6.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.88. LexinFintech Holdings Ltd. Sponsored ADR has a 12-month low of $1.63 and a 12-month high of $11.64.

LexinFintech (NASDAQ:LX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $500.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $500.62 million. LexinFintech had a return on equity of 14.67% and a net margin of 11.50%.

LexinFintech Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a $0.194 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a dividend yield of 440.0%. This is a positive change from LexinFintech's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.11. LexinFintech's dividend payout ratio is 24.41%.

LexinFintech declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, July 21st that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

LexinFintech Profile

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.