CenterBook Partners LP Raises Position in Lyft, Inc. $LYFT

Key Points

• CenterBook Partners LP increased its Lyft stake by 260.1% in the fourth quarter, ending with 158,149 shares worth about $3.06 million.
• Lyft reported Q1 revenue of $1.65 billion, topping estimates, but earnings per share of $0.04 fell well short of the $0.30 consensus forecast.
• The company’s board authorized a $1 billion share buyback, signaling management believes the stock may be undervalued.

CenterBook Partners LP grew its position in Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT - Free Report) by 260.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 158,149 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock after buying an additional 114,234 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP's holdings in Lyft were worth $3,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SouthState Bank Corp lifted its position in Lyft by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 18,359 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 2,372 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Lyft by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 66,216 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $1,283,000 after purchasing an additional 5,055 shares during the period. Havemeyer Place LP bought a new position in Lyft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,289,000. Vestcor Inc lifted its position in Lyft by 819.1% during the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 121,336 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock valued at $2,350,000 after purchasing an additional 108,134 shares during the period. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Lyft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $825,000. 83.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lyft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LYFT opened at $14.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $13.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a PE ratio of 2.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.82. Lyft, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.46 and a 1 year high of $25.54.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. Lyft had a negative return on equity of 2.09% and a net margin of 43.82%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.01 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Lyft, Inc. will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lyft declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the ride-sharing company to buy up to 15.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Lyft

In other news, Director Jill Beggs sold 2,093 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total value of $28,799.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 30,092 shares of the company's stock, valued at $414,065.92. This represents a 6.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Stephen W. Hope sold 5,460 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total transaction of $75,129.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 335,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,615,970.88. This trade represents a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 54,196 shares of company stock valued at $788,521 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LYFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Lyft from $21.00 to $14.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Lyft from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Lyft in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Lyft in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $18.83.

Lyft Profile

Lyft, Inc NASDAQ: LYFT operates a peer-to-peer ridesharing platform that connects passengers with drivers through a mobile application. Since its founding in 2012, the company has expanded beyond traditional ride-hailing to include bike and electric scooter rentals, while also offering rental cars and public transit options in select markets. Lyft's platform uses GPS mapping and dynamic pricing algorithms to optimize driver-passenger matches and route efficiency.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Lyft primarily serves urban and suburban markets across the United States and Canada.

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