Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Wall Street sentiment is mixed: Lyft has a consensus rating of "Hold" from 34 brokerages, with 3 sell ratings, 22 holds, and 9 buys. The average 12-month price target is about $19.28.
• Recent earnings were better on revenue but weaker on profits: Lyft reported $0.04 EPS, missing expectations of $0.30, while revenue came in at $1.65 billion, slightly ahead of estimates and up 17.2% year over year.
• Buyback and insider activity stand out: Lyft authorized a $1 billion share repurchase program, potentially covering up to 15.1% of shares. Insiders also sold shares recently, including notable sales by Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn and CAO Stephen W. Hope.

Shares of Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the thirty-four ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twenty-two have issued a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.2833.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Lyft from $27.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Lyft in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Lyft from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Lyft in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Lyft from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th.

Insider Activity at Lyft

In other Lyft news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 23,661 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $354,915.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 916,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,740,330. This represents a 2.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Stephen W. Hope sold 5,284 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.83, for a total transaction of $73,077.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 300,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,156,883.10. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 54,699 shares of company stock valued at $771,756 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.92% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in Lyft by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 165,558 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $2,202,000 after purchasing an additional 6,830 shares during the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in Lyft in the 1st quarter worth about $688,000. Lido Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lyft in the 1st quarter worth about $274,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Lyft by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 42,785 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $569,000 after purchasing an additional 3,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Lyft by 115.4% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 27,593 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 14,785 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company's stock.

Lyft Stock Performance

Shares of Lyft stock opened at $13.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.58. Lyft has a 1 year low of $12.46 and a 1 year high of $25.54. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $13.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.00. The firm has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 1.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.84.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.26). Lyft had a net margin of 43.82% and a negative return on equity of 2.09%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.01 EPS. Lyft's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Lyft will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lyft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the ride-sharing company to buy up to 15.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Lyft Company 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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