Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Upgraded to “Buy” at Benchmark

Benchmark upgraded shares of Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $20.00 target price on the ride-sharing company’s stock.

LYFT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Lyft from $16.50 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Lyft from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 target price (up previously from $12.00) on shares of Lyft in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Lyft from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Lyft from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.78.

Lyft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LYFT opened at $14.39 on Monday. Lyft has a fifty-two week low of $8.93 and a fifty-two week high of $20.82. The company has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of -89.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.42.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.09. Lyft had a negative net margin of 1.19% and a negative return on equity of 1.58%. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.02) EPS. Lyft’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lyft will post 0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Lyft

In related news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 4,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.76, for a total transaction of $75,337.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 755,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,423,842.72. This represents a 0.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Logan Green sold 10,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.25, for a total transaction of $188,352.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 314,492 shares in the company, valued at $5,424,987. This trade represents a 3.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,242 shares of company stock valued at $427,330. 3.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lyft

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lyft by 10.4% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 43,728 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 4,115 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Lyft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $154,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Lyft by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 418,936 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $5,907,000 after buying an additional 9,216 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Lyft by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 104,053 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $1,467,000 after buying an additional 8,978 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Lyft by 300.9% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 69,697 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $983,000 after acquiring an additional 52,311 shares during the last quarter. 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.