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

Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the thirty-seven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twenty-six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $17.03.

Several brokerages recently commented on LYFT. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Lyft from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Roth Capital reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Lyft in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Lyft from $19.00 to $15.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price objective on Lyft from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

Lyft Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of LYFT opened at $11.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 195.83, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.07 and a 200-day moving average of $13.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.76. Lyft has a 52 week low of $8.93 and a 52 week high of $20.82.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 0.39%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lyft will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total value of $30,348.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 911,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,417,263.44. This represents a 0.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of Lyft 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 sale, the director now owns 297,640 shares in the company, valued at $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 sold a total of 15,407 shares of company stock worth $203,778 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYFT. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Lyft in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Lyft in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Lyft in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Lyft during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Lyft during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors 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.