Zephirin Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Stock

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Zephirin Group from $15.00 to $18.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the ride-sharing company’s stock. Zephirin Group’s target price indicates a potential downside of 14.42% from the company’s previous close.

LYFT has been the subject of a number of other reports. DA Davidson set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Lyft in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Lyft from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho assumed coverage on Lyft in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Lyft from $11.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Guggenheim raised Lyft to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.22.

Lyft Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ LYFT traded down $0.22 on Thursday, hitting $21.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,683,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,668,648. The company’s 50-day moving average is $20.17 and its 200 day moving average is $16.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a PE ratio of 55.35, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 2.36. Lyft has a 1-year low of $9.66 and a 1-year high of $23.50.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Lyft had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Lyft will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 14,606 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $292,120.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 835,782 shares in the company, valued at $16,715,640. This trade represents a 1.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Erin Brewer sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.24, for a total value of $258,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 525,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,064,085.16. This represents a 2.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 74,427 shares of company stock valued at $1,252,686 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Heartland Advisors Inc. raised its position in Lyft by 68.2% in the third quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 594,800 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $13,092,000 after purchasing an additional 241,250 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its stake in Lyft by 142,300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 28,480 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 28,460 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new stake in Lyft in the third quarter valued at approximately $24,828,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in shares of Lyft by 5.6% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 155,236 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $3,417,000 after purchasing an additional 8,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lyft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,346,000. 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.