Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Given Outperform Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Free Report) in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $21.00 target price on the ride-sharing company's stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $17.00 price target (up from $15.00) on shares of Lyft in a report on Friday, May 9th. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Lyft from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $18.00 price objective (down from $23.00) on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $16.63.

Lyft Price Performance

NASDAQ LYFT traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $15.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,831,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,410,915. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $13.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Lyft has a 1 year low of $8.93 and a 1 year high of $19.07. The company has a market capitalization of $6.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 258.83, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.14.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.19). Lyft had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 0.39%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lyft will post 0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lyft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the ride-sharing company to repurchase up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jill Beggs sold 1,572 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.41, for a total transaction of $25,796.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,467 shares in the company, valued at $335,863.47. This represents a 7.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 22,736 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.45, for a total value of $283,063.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 959,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,948,227.65. This trade represents a 2.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,732 shares of company stock worth $347,159 in the last three months. 3.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lyft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYFT. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at about $202,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Optimist Retirement Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at about $152,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at about $445,000. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lyft in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Lyft

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.