LifeStance Health Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFST) Short Interest Update

LifeStance Health Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFST) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 10,322,332 shares, a growth of 32.8% from the February 12th total of 7,775,255 shares. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 3,116,587 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days. Based on an average trading volume of 3,116,587 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on LFST shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on LifeStance Health Group from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of LifeStance Health Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of LifeStance Health Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Darren M. Black sold 4,314,939 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.01, for a total value of $30,247,722.39. Following the sale, the director directly owned 29,209,776 shares in the company, valued at $204,760,529.76. The trade was a 12.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Bessler sold 119,942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.04, for a total value of $844,391.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,318,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,285,640.32. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,493,024 shares of company stock valued at $31,494,183. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LifeStance Health Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Edge Advisors LLC raised its position in LifeStance Health Group by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Park Edge Advisors LLC now owns 11,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 125,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $885,000 after acquiring an additional 1,966 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 21,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 2,447 shares during the period. Xponance LLC raised its holdings in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 13,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 2,745 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 89,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 3,298 shares during the period. 85.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LifeStance Health Group Stock Performance

LFST opened at $6.45 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.33. LifeStance Health Group has a 52-week low of $3.74 and a 52-week high of $8.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of 322.66 and a beta of 1.11.

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $382.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $378.51 million. LifeStance Health Group had a net margin of 0.68% and a return on equity of 0.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.01) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that LifeStance Health Group will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LifeStance Health Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 25th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About LifeStance Health Group

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) is a leading provider of outpatient mental health services in the United States. Headquartered in New York City, the company operates a growing network of clinics that deliver integrated, patient-centered psychological and psychiatric care. LifeStance’s mission is to expand access to high-quality mental health treatment by combining evidence-based therapy modalities with personalized treatment plans.

The company’s service offerings include individual, family, and group psychotherapy, psychiatric medication management, psychological assessment, and telehealth services.