LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded LifeStance Health (NASDAQ:LFST) from "hold" to strong-buy, and multiple brokers have raised price targets, leaving a consensus Buy rating with an average target of $9.83.
• The company beat revenue expectations with $382.2M (up 17.4% year-over-year) but missed EPS estimates ($0.03 vs. $0.05), and its board approved a $100M share repurchase program (up to 3.6% of shares).
• Insiders have sold heavily recently—Director Darren M. Black sold ~4.31M shares for $30.25M and insiders sold ~4.39M shares in the past three months—while institutional investors own about 85.5% of the stock.

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on LFST. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $9.83.

LifeStance Health Group Trading Up 5.5%

LFST opened at $7.67 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $6.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.59. LifeStance Health Group has a 1-year low of $3.74 and a 1-year high of $8.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 383.69 and a beta of 1.13.

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.02). LifeStance Health Group had a return on equity of 0.65% and a net margin of 0.68%.The business had revenue of $382.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $378.51 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.01) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that LifeStance Health Group will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LifeStance Health Group declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 25th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Darren M. Black sold 4,314,939 shares of the 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 transaction, the director directly owned 29,209,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,760,529.76. This represents a 12.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 transaction, the director owned 1,274,448 shares in the company, valued at $8,984,858.40. The trade was a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 4,389,939 shares of company stock valued at $30,775,881 over the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moran Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LifeStance Health Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $953,000. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in LifeStance Health Group during the first quarter worth approximately $1,602,000. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in LifeStance Health Group by 14.8% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 21,532 shares of the company's stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 2,770 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in LifeStance Health Group by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 205,486 shares of the company's stock worth $1,447,000 after acquiring an additional 13,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in LifeStance Health Group by 148.8% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 37,462 shares of the company's stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 22,406 shares during the last quarter. 85.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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