Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Stock Price

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) had its price target raised by Royal Bank Of Canada from $21.00 to $27.00 in a research note released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the ride-sharing company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on LYFT. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Lyft from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Guggenheim upgraded Lyft to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Lyft from $11.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lyft has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.42.

Lyft Stock Performance

LYFT stock traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $22.04. The company had a trading volume of 21,590,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,815,194. The firm has a market cap of $8.96 billion, a PE ratio of 62.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 2.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.72. Lyft has a 12 month low of $9.66 and a 12 month high of $23.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $20.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.82.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Lyft had a return on equity of 18.29% and a net margin of 2.40%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Lyft will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Erin Brewer sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.24, for a total transaction of $258,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 525,759 shares in the company, valued at $9,064,085.16. The trade was a 2.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John David Risher acquired 5,926 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.88 per share, for a total transaction of $100,030.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,797,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,137,850.08. This represents a 0.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 74,427 shares of company stock valued at $1,252,686. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Lyft by 162.6% in the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,943 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,203 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lyft during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Lyft by 81.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,756 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in Lyft by 1,242.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in Lyft in the third quarter worth $34,000. 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.