Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Upgraded to Buy at Benchmark

Benchmark upgraded shares of Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $20.00 target price on the ride-sharing company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on LYFT. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lyft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Lyft from $16.50 to $18.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Lyft from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Lyft from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Lyft from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Twenty-seven research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.78.

Lyft Stock Down 6.7 %

Shares of LYFT opened at $13.36 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -83.50, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 2.14. Lyft has a one year low of $8.93 and a one year high of $20.82. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. Lyft had a negative return on equity of 1.58% and a negative net margin of 1.19%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.02) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lyft will post 0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Lyft

In other news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 4,242 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.76, for a total value of $75,337.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 755,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,423,842.72. This represents a 0.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Lisa Blackwood-Kapral sold 9,081 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.02, for a total transaction of $163,639.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 332,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,987,018.86. The trade was a 2.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,242 shares of company stock worth $427,330. Insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LYFT. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Lyft by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 18,052,879 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $230,174,000 after purchasing an additional 80,675 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lyft by 27.2% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 8,114,166 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $103,456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,735,208 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lyft in the third quarter valued at about $90,604,000. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in Lyft by 3.8% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,491,590 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $82,768,000 after acquiring an additional 235,510 shares during the period. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in Lyft by 84.8% in the 3rd quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 6,186,000 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $78,872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,838,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Lyft Company Profile

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.