Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Lyft, Inc. $LYFT

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its Lyft stake by 250% in the first quarter, adding 3.03 million shares to bring its holdings to 4.25 million shares worth about $56.5 million.
• Lyft continues to attract institutional interest, with several large funds adding positions; institutional investors now own 83.07% of the company, while insiders have sold shares in recent months.
• Lyft reported Q1 revenue of $1.65 billion, topping estimates, but earnings of $0.04 per share fell well short of the $0.30 consensus. Analysts currently rate the stock a cautious “Hold” on average, with a consensus price target of $19.40.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT - Free Report) by 250.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,246,519 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock after buying an additional 3,033,333 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.07% of Lyft worth $56,479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LYFT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at about $109,987,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Lyft during the 4th quarter valued at about $108,472,000. Contour Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Lyft during the 4th quarter valued at about $75,870,000. Prevatt Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lyft in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,270,000. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Lyft by 2,441.2% in the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,857,593 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $35,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784,494 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 11,491 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $172,365.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 853,731 shares in the company, valued at $12,805,965. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jill Beggs sold 2,093 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.76, for a total transaction of $28,799.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 30,092 shares of the company's stock, valued at $414,065.92. The trade was a 6.50% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 45,535 shares of company stock valued at $637,456. 0.92% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lyft Price Performance

Shares of LYFT opened at $15.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.80. Lyft, Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.46 and a twelve month high of $25.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50 day moving average of $14.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.93.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Lyft had a negative return on equity of 2.09% and a net margin of 43.82%.The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.01 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Lyft, Inc. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LYFT shares. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Lyft in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Lyft in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Lyft in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. They issued an "underperform" rating on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Lyft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.40.

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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