Loop Capital Lowers Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Price Target to $20.00

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) had its target price cut by equities research analysts at Loop Capital from $23.00 to $20.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the ride-sharing company’s stock. Loop Capital’s target price indicates a potential upside of 70.65% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on LYFT. Benchmark raised Lyft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Lyft from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Lyft from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Roth Capital restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Twenty-six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.03.

Lyft Stock Up 1.6 %

LYFT opened at $11.72 on Tuesday. Lyft has a fifty-two week low of $8.93 and a fifty-two week high of $20.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 195.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.10 and a 200-day moving average of $13.78.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 earnings per share 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, equities analysts expect that Lyft will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

Lyft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the ride-sharing company to repurchase up to 8.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Lyft

In other news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now directly owns 911,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,417,263.44. This trade represents a 0.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were 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 directly owns 297,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,970,517.60. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,407 shares of company stock valued at $203,778. Insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lyft

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Lyft by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 398,880 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $5,146,000 after buying an additional 49,138 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Lyft by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,408,466 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $121,369,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302,248 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lyft during the 4th quarter valued at $1,681,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in Lyft by 354.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 266,185 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $3,434,000 after purchasing an additional 207,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Lyft by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,878,369 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $50,031,000 after purchasing an additional 981,186 shares in the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by 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.