Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Receives “Overweight” Rating from Piper Sandler

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Piper Sandler in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $18.00 price objective on the ride-sharing company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $23.00. Piper Sandler’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 34.87% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Lyft from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Lyft from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Lyft from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Lyft from $11.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Lyft from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Twenty-seven equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.47.

Lyft Stock Performance

Shares of Lyft stock opened at $13.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -80.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Lyft has a twelve month low of $8.93 and a twelve month high of $20.82. The company’s fifty day moving average is $14.00 and its 200 day moving average is $13.52.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last released its quarterly 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 negative net margin of 1.19% and a negative return on equity of 1.58%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lyft will post 0.06 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Logan Green sold 10,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.25, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Lyft during the fourth quarter valued at $49,599,000. Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lyft during the 4th quarter worth $1,221,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lyft by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,002,611 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $464,434,000 after acquiring an additional 984,907 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Lyft in the 4th quarter valued at about $232,000. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Lyft by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 61,578 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 17,039 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lyft Company Profile

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.