Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) to Buyback $500.00 million in Outstanding Stock

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 11th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the ride-sharing company to purchase up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on LYFT. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Lyft from $16.50 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Lyft from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Lyft from $16.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Lyft from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Lyft from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.31.

Lyft Stock Down 7.9 %

NASDAQ LYFT opened at $13.25 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -82.81, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 2.16. Lyft has a 12 month low of $8.93 and a 12 month high of $20.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.52.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.10). Lyft had a negative return on equity of 1.58% and a negative net margin of 1.19%. Equities research analysts expect that Lyft will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lyft

In related news, Director Logan Green sold 10,919 shares of the firm’s 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 approximately $5,424,987. This trade represents a 3.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.