Susquehanna Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Stock

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Susquehanna from $15.00 to $18.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the ride-sharing company’s stock. Susquehanna’s target price suggests a potential upside of 5.70% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America downgraded Lyft from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $10.50 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Lyft from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Lyft from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI reduced 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, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.56.

Lyft Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of LYFT opened at $17.03 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 283.83, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.14. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $12.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.64. Lyft has a 52 week low of $8.93 and a 52 week high of $19.07.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.19). Lyft had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 0.39%. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Lyft will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Lyft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the ride-sharing company to buy 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 at Lyft

In other Lyft news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total transaction of $30,348.48. Following the sale, the director now owns 911,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,417,263.44. This represents a 0.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.34, for a total transaction of $152,222.74. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 297,640 shares in the company, valued at $3,970,517.60. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,143 shares of company stock valued at $486,841. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lyft

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lyft in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Lyft in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lyft by 81.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,756 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lyft in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Lyft in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 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.