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

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) had its target price upped by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $13.00 to $18.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the ride-sharing company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target suggests a potential upside of 1.24% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 target price (up previously from $12.00) on shares of Lyft in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Lyft from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Melius started coverage on shares of Lyft in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $15.00 price objective on the stock. Nomura Securities raised shares of Lyft from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Thursday. Twenty-eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.23.

Lyft Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ LYFT opened at $17.78 on Thursday. Lyft has a fifty-two week low of $8.93 and a fifty-two week high of $20.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -111.13 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.54.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.05. Lyft had a negative return on equity of 1.67% and a negative net margin of 1.19%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.14) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Lyft will post -0.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lyft

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Lyft in the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Lyft by 48.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 78,609 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 25,500 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Lyft by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,557 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 3,247 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Lyft in the 1st quarter valued at $1,262,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Lyft by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 683,100 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $13,218,000 after buying an additional 13,300 shares in the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by 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.