Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Susquehanna Analyst Says

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Susquehanna from $15.00 to $18.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the ride-sharing company’s stock. Susquehanna’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 5.70% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Lyft in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Lyft from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $10.50 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $18.00 price target (down from $23.00) on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Lyft from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Lyft from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lyft has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.56.

Lyft Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of LYFT stock opened at $17.03 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.03 and a 200-day moving average of $13.64. 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 12-month low of $8.93 and a 12-month high of $19.07. The firm has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 283.83, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.14.

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

Lyft announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 reacquire up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lyft news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total transaction of $30,348.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 911,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,417,263.44. This trade represents a 0.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.34, for a total value of $152,222.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 297,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,970,517.60. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,143 shares of company stock worth $486,841 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Lyft by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,980,398 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $23,507,000 after buying an additional 28,762 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lyft by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 486,120 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $5,770,000 after buying an additional 79,114 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lyft by 51.1% in the 1st quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 37,375 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 12,636 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lyft by 306.0% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 416,572 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $4,945,000 after buying an additional 313,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Lyft by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 70,926 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $842,000 after buying an additional 9,348 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.