LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Strong Earnings

Key Points

• LifeStance hit a new 52-week high after reporting quarterly EPS of $0.04 vs. $0.01 expected and revenue up 21.2% year‑over‑year.
• The Board authorized a $100 million share repurchase program (about 3.6% of outstanding shares), signaling management believes the stock may be undervalued.
• Insiders sold roughly 4.39 million shares (~$30.8M) in the last 90 days, even as analysts raised targets and the consensus rating is Buy with a $9.83 average price target.

LifeStance Health Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFST - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $8.21 and last traded at $8.4190, with a volume of 1303223 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $7.36.

The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.03. LifeStance Health Group had a return on equity of 0.65% and a net margin of 0.68%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.2% on a year-over-year basis.

LifeStance Health Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 25th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on LifeStance Health Group from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on LifeStance Health Group from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on LifeStance Health Group from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen raised LifeStance Health Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised LifeStance Health Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $9.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at LifeStance Health Group

In other news, Director Darren M. Black sold 4,314,939 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.01, for a total transaction of $30,247,722.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 29,209,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,760,529.76. The trade was a 12.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert Bessler sold 62,147 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.05, for a total transaction of $438,136.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,274,448 shares in the company, valued at $8,984,858.40. This represents a 4.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,389,939 shares of company stock worth $30,775,881. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in LifeStance Health Group by 63.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 70,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 27,244 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in LifeStance Health Group by 223.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 51,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 35,554 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 142,950 shares of the company's stock worth $952,000 after buying an additional 4,169 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 615,652 shares of the company's stock worth $4,100,000 after buying an additional 11,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 550,657 shares of the company's stock worth $2,847,000 after buying an additional 51,154 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.50% of the company's stock.

LifeStance Health Group Stock Performance

The company's 50-day simple moving average is $6.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 429.11 and a beta of 1.20.

About LifeStance Health Group

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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