Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) Receives $16.45 Consensus PT from Analysts

Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the thirty-eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twenty-five have issued a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $16.47.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LYFT shares. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Lyft from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Lyft from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Lyft from $19.00 to $15.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Lyft from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Lyft from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Lyft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LYFT opened at $16.64 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 277.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.14. Lyft has a 1 year low of $8.93 and a 1 year high of $19.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $11.84 and a 200-day moving average of $13.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.19). Lyft had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 0.39%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. Lyft’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lyft will post 0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lyft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the ride-sharing company to buy up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Lyft

In other Lyft news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 22,736 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.45, for a total value of $283,063.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 959,697 shares in the company, valued at $11,948,227.65. This trade represents a 2.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.34, for a total transaction of $152,222.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 297,640 shares in the company, valued at $3,970,517.60. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,143 shares of company stock valued at $486,841. 3.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lyft

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LYFT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lyft by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,049,250 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $451,645,000 after purchasing an additional 2,046,639 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Lyft by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,408,466 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $121,369,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302,248 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lyft by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 9,338,222 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $120,463,000 after buying an additional 1,224,056 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lyft by 282.0% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,623,227 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $111,240,000 after buying an additional 6,365,727 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in Lyft by 156.9% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 8,025,099 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $103,524,000 after buying an additional 4,901,358 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is 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.