Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the thirty-seven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twenty-six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.22.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark raised shares of Lyft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wedbush lowered their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Lyft from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Lyft from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lyft from $10.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Lyft Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of LYFT opened at $14.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $5.81 billion, a PE ratio of -87.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 2.16. Lyft has a fifty-two week low of $8.93 and a fifty-two week high of $20.82.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.10). Lyft had a negative net margin of 1.19% and a negative return on equity of 1.58%. As a group, analysts forecast that Lyft will post 0.06 EPS for the current year.

Lyft announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 11th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the ride-sharing company to buy up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Logan Green sold 10,919 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.25, for a total transaction of $188,352.75. Following the sale, the director now owns 314,492 shares in the company, valued at $5,424,987. This represents a 3.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Lyft by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,493 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Lyft by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 28,454 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its position in Lyft by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 16,023 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in Lyft by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 42,203 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Lyft by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 41,539 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Lyft Company Profile

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.