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

Shares of Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirty-seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Twenty-six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $17.13.

A number of research analysts have commented on LYFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Lyft from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America raised their price target on Lyft from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. 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. Loop Capital raised their price target on Lyft from $16.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Lyft from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Lyft Trading Up 5.8 %

NASDAQ:LYFT opened at $11.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business’s 50 day moving average is $13.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.78. Lyft has a 52 week low of $8.93 and a 52 week high of $20.82. The company has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 198.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.15.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.10). Lyft had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 0.39%. On average, analysts predict that Lyft will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Transactions at Lyft

In other news, 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 sale, the director now owns 297,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,970,517.60. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 911,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,417,263.44. This trade represents a 0.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,407 shares of company stock valued at $203,778 in the last three months. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lyft

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LYFT. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Lyft during the third quarter valued at $90,604,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Lyft by 282.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,623,227 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $111,240,000 after purchasing an additional 6,365,727 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in Lyft by 828.5% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,662,535 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $85,947,000 after purchasing an additional 5,945,000 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in Lyft by 156.9% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 8,025,099 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $103,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,901,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lyft during the fourth quarter valued at $49,599,000. 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.