Short Interest in PPDAI Group Inc. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:FINV) Expands By 13.0%

PPDAI Group Inc. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:FINV) was the target of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 7,205,857 shares, a growth of 13.0% from the March 31st total of 6,377,563 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,033,622 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.0 days. Approximately 5.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPDAI Group during the 4th quarter worth about $120,000. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of PPDAI Group during the 4th quarter worth about $221,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,083 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPDAI Group by 110.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 26,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 13,855 shares during the period. 31.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PPDAI Group in a report on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.10.

PPDAI Group Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:FINV traded up $0.07 on Friday, reaching $5.03. The stock had a trading volume of 921,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,015,986. The company has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 2.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $5.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.40. PPDAI Group has a 12-month low of $4.51 and a 12-month high of $10.90.

PPDAI Group (NYSE:FINV) last released its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $432.21 million for the quarter. PPDAI Group had a net margin of 18.70% and a return on equity of 16.39%.

PPDAI Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.306 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 637.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 16th. This is an increase from PPDAI Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.28. PPDAI Group’s payout ratio is currently 15.67%.

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.