PPDAI Group Inc. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:FINV) Short Interest Down 13.1% in February

PPDAI Group Inc. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:FINV) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 4,694,706 shares, a decrease of 13.1% from the February 12th total of 5,403,287 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 870,461 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.4 days. Based on an average daily volume of 870,461 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.4 days. Approximately 3.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

PPDAI Group Price Performance

NYSE:FINV traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $6.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,292,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,092,252. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.96. PPDAI Group has a 52 week low of $4.70 and a 52 week high of $10.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a current ratio of 2.86.

PPDAI Group (NYSE:FINV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 16th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.06). PPDAI Group had a net margin of 18.70% and a return on equity of 16.66%. The company had revenue of $432.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $514.80 million.

PPDAI Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.306 per share. This is a boost from PPDAI Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.28. This represents a dividend yield of 497.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 16th. PPDAI Group’s payout ratio is 15.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PPDAI Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of PPDAI Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.10.

Institutional Trading of PPDAI Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in PPDAI Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $120,000. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in PPDAI Group in the fourth quarter valued at $221,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPDAI Group by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 3,655 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PPDAI Group by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,083 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in PPDAI Group by 110.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 26,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 13,855 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.15% of the company’s stock.

PPDAI Group Company Profile

PPDAI Group Inc operates an online consumer finance marketplace that connects individual and institutional investors with personal and small-business borrowers. Through its digital platform, the company facilitates unsecured consumer loans, auto refinancing loans and small-business financing by leveraging proprietary credit assessment tools and big data analytics. Investors gain exposure to a diversified portfolio of retail credit assets, while borrowers benefit from streamlined application processes and competitive financing rates.

At the core of PPDAI’s offering is a multi-layered risk management framework that combines automated credit scoring, manual underwriting oversight and third-party data verification.