BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Stock

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) had its target price lifted by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $13.00 to $18.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the ride-sharing company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 1.93% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on LYFT. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Lyft in a report on Thursday. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Lyft in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Lyft from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Nomura upgraded Lyft from a “reduce” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Lyft from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lyft presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.90.

Lyft Stock Up 22.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LYFT traded up $3.26 during trading on Thursday, hitting $17.66. 52,723,801 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,959,943. The company has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -111.88 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $12.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Lyft has a 52 week low of $8.93 and a 52 week high of $20.82.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.05. Lyft had a negative return on equity of 8.57% and a negative net margin of 1.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.14) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lyft will post -0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Lyft

In other news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 7,188 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.40, for a total transaction of $81,943.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 932,062 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,625,506.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 4,243 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total transaction of $50,916.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 760,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,121,068. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 7,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.40, for a total value of $81,943.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 932,062 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,625,506.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,664 shares of company stock valued at $380,048. 3.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lyft

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYFT. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lyft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in shares of Lyft during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lyft during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Lyft in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in Lyft by 4,032.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,554 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 3,468 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

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.