LifeStance Health Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFST) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of LifeStance Health Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFST) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $10.00.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LFST. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of LifeStance Health Group from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of LifeStance Health Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling at LifeStance Health Group

In related news, Director Darren M. Black sold 4,314,939 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.01, for a total transaction of $30,247,722.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 29,209,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,760,529.76. This represents a 12.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert Bessler sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.55, for a total value of $641,250.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,236,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,575,905.40. This trade represents a 5.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 4,464,939 shares of company stock valued at $31,417,131 in the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LifeStance Health Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,367 shares in the last quarter. Park Edge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Park Edge Advisors LLC now owns 11,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 1,495 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 125,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $885,000 after buying an additional 1,966 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 21,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 2,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance LLC lifted its stake in LifeStance Health Group by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 13,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 2,745 shares in the last quarter. 85.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

LifeStance Health Group Price Performance

LFST stock opened at $7.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.17 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. LifeStance Health Group has a 12-month low of $3.74 and a 12-month high of $8.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.74.

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.03. LifeStance Health Group had a net margin of 1.55% and a return on equity of 1.56%. The firm had revenue of $403.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $387.46 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that LifeStance Health Group will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

LifeStance Health Group announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 25th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

LifeStance Health Group Company Profile

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) is a leading provider of outpatient mental health services in the United States. Headquartered in New York City, the company operates a growing network of clinics that deliver integrated, patient-centered psychological and psychiatric care. LifeStance’s mission is to expand access to high-quality mental health treatment by combining evidence-based therapy modalities with personalized treatment plans.

The company’s service offerings include individual, family, and group psychotherapy, psychiatric medication management, psychological assessment, and telehealth services.