Loop Capital Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Stock

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at Loop Capital from $16.00 to $23.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the ride-sharing company’s stock. Loop Capital’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 33.41% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on LYFT. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Lyft from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Lyft from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective (up from $12.00) on shares of Lyft in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Lyft from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lyft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lyft has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.77.

Lyft Stock Performance

Shares of LYFT opened at $17.24 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $14.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.59. Lyft has a 52 week low of $8.93 and a 52 week high of $20.82. The company has a market capitalization of $7.15 billion, a PE ratio of -107.75, a PEG ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 2.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Lyft had a negative net margin of 1.19% and a negative return on equity of 1.58%. The firm’s revenue was up 31.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.02) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Lyft will post 0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lyft

In related news, Director Logan Green sold 10,919 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.25, for a total transaction of $188,352.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 314,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,424,987. This trade represents a 3.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Lisa Blackwood-Kapral sold 9,081 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.02, for a total transaction of $163,639.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 332,243 shares in the company, valued at $5,987,018.86. The trade was a 2.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,909 shares of company stock worth $505,686. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lyft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Lyft by 26.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,968 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457 shares during the period. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in Lyft by 310.3% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 102,576 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $1,985,000 after acquiring an additional 77,578 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lyft in the second quarter valued at approximately $388,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new stake in Lyft in the third quarter valued at approximately $423,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Lyft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,349,000. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Lyft

Lyft, Inc operates a peer-to-peer marketplace for on-demand ridesharing in the United States and Canada. It operates multimodal transportation networks that offer access to various transportation options through the Lyft platform and mobile-based applications. The company's platform provides a ridesharing marketplace, which connects drivers with riders; Express Drive, a car rental program for drivers; and a network of shared bikes and scooters in various cities to address the needs of riders for short trips.