Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Hold Rating for Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT)

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on LYFT. Citigroup reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Lyft in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Lyft from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Lyft from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Lyft from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Twenty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.03.

Lyft Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:LYFT opened at $12.49 on Monday. Lyft has a 1 year low of $8.93 and a 1 year high of $20.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 208.17, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 2.15.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last announced 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 net margin of 0.39% and a return on equity of 8.03%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lyft will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lyft announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 11th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the ride-sharing company to repurchase up to 8.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Lyft

In other Lyft news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.52, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Logan Green sold 11,411 shares of Lyft 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 sale, the director now owns 297,640 shares in the company, valued at $3,970,517.60. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,407 shares of company stock worth $203,778. 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 added to or reduced their stakes in LYFT. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lyft by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,493 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lyft by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 28,454 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lyft by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 16,023 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Lyft by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 42,203 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Lyft by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 41,539 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is 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.