Vanguard Group Inc. Makes New $44.05 Million Investment in LexinFintech Holdings Ltd. Sponsored ADR $LX

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has invested approximately $44.05 million in LexinFintech Holdings, acquiring over 4.3 million shares, which represents a 2.59% stake in the company.
• LexinFintech has received a "buy" rating from analysts at Wall Street Zen, with an average price target of $13.60 per share.
• The company recently declared a semi-annual dividend of $0.194 per share, a notable increase from its previous dividend of $0.11, representing a 440% yield.

Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LexinFintech Holdings Ltd. Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:LX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,365,520 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,048,000. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 2.59% of LexinFintech as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LX. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in LexinFintech by 44.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 74,127 shares of the company's stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 22,885 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in LexinFintech during the fourth quarter valued at about $157,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in LexinFintech during the fourth quarter valued at about $166,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in LexinFintech by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,793,751 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,409,000 after buying an additional 315,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in LexinFintech by 146.5% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 7,227 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut LexinFintech from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $13.60.

LexinFintech Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:LX traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $6.32. The company had a trading volume of 4,811,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,791,632. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 1.89. LexinFintech Holdings Ltd. Sponsored ADR has a 1-year low of $1.63 and a 1-year high of $11.64. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.80.

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

LexinFintech announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, July 21st that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

LexinFintech Increases Dividend

The business 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. This is a positive change from LexinFintech's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a dividend yield of 440.0%. LexinFintech's dividend payout ratio is 24.41%.

LexinFintech Company 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.