Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Guggenheim

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) was upgraded by investment analysts at Guggenheim to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Roth Capital raised Lyft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Lyft from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Lyft from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating and set a $14.00 price target (down from $22.00) on shares of Lyft in a research note on Friday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell 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 $19.12.

Lyft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LYFT opened at $19.87 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.80, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 2.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $18.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.75. Lyft has a twelve month low of $9.66 and a twelve month high of $23.50.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.17). Lyft had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 1.51%.The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lyft will post 0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lyft

In related news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 14,606 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $292,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 835,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,715,640. The trade was a 1.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Erin Brewer sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.24, for a total transaction of $258,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 525,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,064,085.16. This represents a 2.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 74,427 shares of company stock worth $1,252,686. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lyft by 5.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,049,250 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $451,645,000 after purchasing an additional 2,046,639 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Lyft by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 24,849,205 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $294,978,000 after purchasing an additional 5,178,118 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lyft by 144.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 24,009,925 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $378,396,000 after buying an additional 14,205,143 shares during the period. Rakuten Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Lyft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $130,434,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lyft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,633,591 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $104,561,000 after buying an additional 20,354 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.