Lyft's (LYFT) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reiterated by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $21.00 price objective on the ride-sharing company's stock. Royal Bank of Canada's price target indicates a potential upside of 60.98% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on LYFT. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Lyft from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Lyft from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Lyft from $19.00 to $15.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Loop Capital increased their target price on Lyft from $16.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded Lyft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Twenty-six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lyft currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $17.22.

Lyft Price Performance

Shares of LYFT stock traded down $0.42 on Tuesday, hitting $13.05. 16,698,129 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,387,879. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Lyft has a 12 month low of $8.93 and a 12 month high of $20.82. The stock has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 217.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.66 and a 200 day moving average of $13.59.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 0.39%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lyft will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

Lyft declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the ride-sharing company to reacquire up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Logan Green sold 10,919 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.25, for a total transaction of $188,352.75. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Lyft

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LYFT. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Lyft during the third quarter worth $90,604,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Lyft by 282.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,623,227 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $111,240,000 after acquiring an additional 6,365,727 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Lyft by 828.5% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,662,535 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $85,947,000 after acquiring an additional 5,945,000 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in Lyft by 156.9% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 8,025,099 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $103,524,000 after acquiring an additional 4,901,358 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lyft in the fourth quarter worth $49,599,000. 83.07% of the stock is currently 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.