LifeStance Health Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFST) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts are broadly bullish on LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST), with a consensus rating of “Buy” across 10 brokerages and an average 12-month price target of about $9.86.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $0.04 EPS versus the $0.01 estimate and revenue of $403.48 million, up 21.2% year over year.
• LifeStance also has ongoing support from buybacks and institutional ownership, including a $100 million share repurchase program, while hedge funds and other institutions own 85.5% of the stock.

Shares of LifeStance Health Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFST - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the ten brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $9.8571.

Several research analysts have commented on LFST shares. Zacks Research raised shares of LifeStance Health Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of LifeStance Health Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th.

LifeStance Health Group Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of LifeStance Health Group stock opened at $7.94 on Tuesday. LifeStance Health Group has a 1 year low of $3.74 and a 1 year high of $8.89. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 132.33 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.97.

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.03. LifeStance Health Group had a net margin of 1.55% and a return on equity of 1.56%. The business had revenue of $403.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $387.46 million. LifeStance Health Group's revenue was up 21.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that LifeStance Health Group will post 0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LifeStance Health Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 25th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Darren M. Black sold 5,899,661 shares of LifeStance Health Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.02, for a total value of $47,315,281.22. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,310,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $186,947,122.30. The trade was a 20.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert Bessler sold 575,034 shares of LifeStance Health Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.02, for a total transaction of $4,611,772.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 986,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,915,186.62. The trade was a 36.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 6,868,057 shares of company stock valued at $55,048,226 over the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LFST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in LifeStance Health Group by 19.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,613,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,374,000 after acquiring an additional 2,383,728 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in LifeStance Health Group in the fourth quarter valued at $787,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in LifeStance Health Group in the third quarter valued at $1,040,000. Integral Health Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in LifeStance Health Group in the third quarter valued at $8,250,000. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new stake in LifeStance Health Group in the third quarter valued at $17,056,000. 85.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LifeStance Health Group Company Profile

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.

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