Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Lowered to “Underperform” Rating by Bank of America

Bank of America downgraded shares of Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) from a buy rating to an underperform rating in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $10.50 price objective on the ride-sharing company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Citigroup reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Lyft in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Lyft from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Lyft from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Lyft from $19.00 to $15.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Lyft from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-seven have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lyft has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.66.

Lyft Stock Down 5.6 %

NASDAQ LYFT opened at $10.84 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Lyft has a 52 week low of $8.93 and a 52 week high of $19.55. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.83. The firm has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of 180.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.13.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 0.39%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lyft will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Lyft declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding 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 leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Lyft

In other news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total value of $30,348.48. Following the sale, the director now owns 911,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,417,263.44. The trade was a 0.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of the 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 directly owns 297,640 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders have sold 15,407 shares of company stock worth $203,778 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lyft during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Lyft during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Lyft during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lyft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

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.