Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT)

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $21.00 price target on the ride-sharing company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target suggests a potential upside of 49.63% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Lyft from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Lyft from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Lyft from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Twenty-six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lyft presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.22.

Lyft Trading Up 4.5 %

LYFT stock traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $14.04. 23,844,125 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,268,262. Lyft has a 1-year low of $8.93 and a 1-year high of $20.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a PE ratio of -87.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 2.16. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.57.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lyft will post 0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lyft declared that its board has initiated a share 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 reacquire up to 8.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Lyft

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYFT. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Lyft by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 47,181 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $602,000 after buying an additional 8,408 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Lyft by 2,103.5% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 19,765 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 18,868 shares in the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Lyft in the third quarter valued at $266,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Lyft by 263.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 219,276 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $2,796,000 after purchasing an additional 158,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lyft by 4,469.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 114,062 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 111,566 shares during the period. 83.07% of the stock is 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.