Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) had its price target lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $14.00 to $16.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the ride-sharing company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Citigroup restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Lyft in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Lyft from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Lyft from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $18.00 price target (down from $23.00) on shares of Lyft in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Lyft from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.47.

Lyft Stock Up 28.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:LYFT opened at $16.64 on Friday. Lyft has a 52-week low of $8.93 and a 52-week high of $19.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $11.84 and a 200 day moving average of $13.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a PE ratio of 277.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.19). Lyft had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 0.39%. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lyft will post 0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lyft declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the ride-sharing company to repurchase up to 8.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lyft news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 22,736 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.45, for a total transaction of $283,063.20. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.34, for a total transaction of $152,222.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 297,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,970,517.60. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,143 shares of company stock valued at $486,841 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LYFT. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Lyft by 282.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,623,227 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $111,240,000 after purchasing an additional 6,365,727 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Lyft by 828.5% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,662,535 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $85,947,000 after buying an additional 5,945,000 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Lyft by 156.9% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 8,025,099 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $103,524,000 after buying an additional 4,901,358 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lyft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,599,000. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Lyft by 2,553.0% during the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,607,399 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $30,950,000 after buying an additional 2,509,118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

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.