LexinFintech Holdings Ltd. Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:LX) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest nearly doubled in August, rising 94.8% to 4.62 million shares as of August 31. Short interest represented 3.8% of outstanding shares, with a 1.3-day short-interest ratio.
• LexinFintech shares traded near their 52-week low at $0.80, down sharply from the 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $1.32 and $1.91, respectively.
• Analyst sentiment weakened: Citigroup downgraded the stock to Neutral and cut its price target to $1.20, while other firms issued Sell and Hold ratings. The consensus rating was “Reduce,” with an average price target of $2.35.

LexinFintech Holdings Ltd. Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:LX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,616,015 shares, a growth of 94.8% from the August 15th total of 2,369,578 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,661,717 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days.

LexinFintech Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LX traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $0.80. 821,402 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,226,916. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.09. The company has a market cap of $133.16 million, a PE ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.86. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $1.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.91. LexinFintech has a 1-year low of $0.78 and a 1-year high of $5.94.

LexinFintech (NASDAQ:LX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 14th. The company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter. LexinFintech had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 8.59%. The business had revenue of $469.10 million during the quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup cut LexinFintech from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $4.38 to $1.20 in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of LexinFintech from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded LexinFintech from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $2.35.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LexinFintech by 30.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,379,109 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,366,000 after purchasing an additional 788,840 shares in the last quarter. Anatole Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of LexinFintech by 79.6% in the fourth quarter. Anatole Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,870,383 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,926,000 after buying an additional 2,159,246 shares during the period. Oasis Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in LexinFintech by 56.9% in the 4th quarter. Oasis Management Co Ltd. now owns 1,744,075 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,703,000 after buying an additional 632,575 shares during the last quarter. Brilliance Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in LexinFintech by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Brilliance Asset Management Ltd. now owns 3,601,592 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,777,000 after buying an additional 701,943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ariadne Wealth Management LP boosted its position in LexinFintech by 50.4% during the 1st quarter. Ariadne Wealth Management LP now owns 24,107 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 8,080 shares during the period.

LexinFintech Company Profile

LexinFintech Holdings Ltd. NASDAQ: LX is a China-based consumer finance and digital banking platform primarily serving young, underbanked consumers. The company's core offering is point-of-sale installment financing, enabling eligible customers to split purchases into fixed monthly payments with transparent fees. Leveraging proprietary data analytics and credit scoring models, LexinFintech underwrites consumer loans for online purchases and provides credit lines that support a variety of retail and e-commerce transactions.

In addition to its flagship installment loan service, LexinFintech has developed wealth management and fintech-as-a-service products.

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