Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Lyft's stock price increased significantly from a previous close of $20.19 to an opening of $23.38, with a last trade at $23.18 and over 31 million shares traded.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Lyft, with nine giving it a Buy rating, while the consensus rating remains a Hold with a price target of $17.07.
• The company reported a net income miss with $0.10 earnings per share for the last quarter, falling short of the $0.27 expectation, but showing a 10.6% year-over-year revenue growth.

Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on the stock from $11.00 to $18.00. The stock had previously closed at $20.19, but opened at $23.38. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Lyft shares last traded at $23.18, with a volume of 31,441,540 shares trading hands.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on LYFT. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Lyft from $16.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of Lyft in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered Lyft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Lyft from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Lyft from $17.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lyft presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Erin Brewer sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.24, for a total transaction of $258,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 525,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,064,085.16. This represents a 2.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John David Risher acquired 5,926 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.88 per share, with a total value of $100,030.88. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 11,797,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,137,850.08. The trade was a 0.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,427 shares of company stock worth $1,252,686 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Lyft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LYFT. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its holdings in Lyft by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 24,441 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in Lyft by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 23,344 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Lyft by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 24,688 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Lyft by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 9,025 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Lyft by 39.4% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,107 shares of the ride-sharing company's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.07% of the company's stock.

Lyft Stock Performance

The company's fifty day simple moving average is $16.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $9.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 2.33.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.17). Lyft had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 1.51%.The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.24 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Lyft, Inc. will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lyft Company Profile

Lyft, Inc operates a peer-to-peer marketplace for on-demand ridesharing in the United States and Canada. It operates multimodal transportation networks that offer access to various transportation options through the Lyft platform and mobile-based applications. The company's platform provides a ridesharing marketplace, which connects drivers with riders; Express Drive, a car rental program for drivers; and a network of shared bikes and scooters in various cities to address the needs of riders for short trips.