Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Rating Lowered to Underperform at Bank of America

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) was downgraded by analysts at Bank of America from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report released on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $10.50 target price on the ride-sharing company’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price points to a potential downside of 18.92% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Lyft from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Roth Capital reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Benchmark raised shares of Lyft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Lyft from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Lyft from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-seven have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.69.

Lyft Stock Up 5.9 %

Shares of Lyft stock opened at $12.95 on Thursday. Lyft has a one year low of $8.93 and a one year high of $19.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.87 and its 200 day moving average is $13.84. The firm has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 215.83, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.15.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.10). Lyft had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 0.39%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lyft will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

Lyft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 11th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the ride-sharing company to repurchase up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.34, for a total transaction of $152,222.74. Following the sale, the director now owns 297,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,970,517.60. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total transaction of $30,348.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 911,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,417,263.44. This trade represents a 0.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,407 shares of company stock valued at $203,778. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYFT. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lyft by 282.0% in 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 during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in Lyft by 828.5% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,662,535 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $85,947,000 after buying an additional 5,945,000 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in Lyft by 156.9% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 8,025,099 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $103,524,000 after buying an additional 4,901,358 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lyft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,599,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lyft by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,408,466 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $121,369,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302,248 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.