Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Oppenheimer

Investment analysts at Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set an "outperform" rating and a $15.00 price target on the ride-sharing company's stock. Oppenheimer's price objective suggests a potential upside of 34.41% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on LYFT. Wedbush lowered their target price on shares of Lyft from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Lyft in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Lyft from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Lyft from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Lyft in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-seven have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.45.

Lyft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LYFT traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $11.16. 12,563,996 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,611,687. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 186.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.02 and a 200 day moving average of $13.65. Lyft has a twelve month low of $8.93 and a twelve month high of $19.07.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.10). Lyft had a net margin of 0.39% and a return on equity of 8.03%. On average, analysts forecast that Lyft will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

Lyft declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 purchase up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the business'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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,417,263.44. The trade was a 0.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.34, for a total value 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 represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,407 shares of company stock valued at $203,778. 3.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Lyft by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 398,880 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $5,146,000 after acquiring an additional 49,138 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lyft by 32.4% in 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 position in shares of Lyft in the 4th quarter valued at $1,681,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lyft by 282.0% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,623,227 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $111,240,000 after buying an additional 6,365,727 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Lyft by 354.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 266,185 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $3,434,000 after buying an additional 207,672 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.