Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Price Target to $21.00

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) had its price target decreased by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $24.00 to $21.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the ride-sharing company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 55.90% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on LYFT. Bank of America boosted their target price on Lyft from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (down previously from $23.00) on shares of Lyft in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their price objective on Lyft from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lyft in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on Lyft from $16.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.22.

Lyft Trading Up 1.7 %

LYFT opened at $13.47 on Wednesday. Lyft has a one year low of $8.93 and a one year high of $20.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a PE ratio of -84.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 2.16. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $13.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.10). Lyft had a negative net margin of 1.19% and a negative return on equity of 1.58%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lyft will post 0.06 EPS for the current year.

Lyft announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the ride-sharing company to reacquire up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Lyft

In related news, Director Logan Green sold 10,919 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.25, for a total transaction of $188,352.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 314,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,424,987. The trade was a 3.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lyft

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LYFT. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Lyft in the third quarter worth approximately $90,604,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Lyft by 282.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,623,227 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $111,240,000 after acquiring an additional 6,365,727 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lyft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,599,000. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. grew its position in Lyft by 84.8% in the third quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 6,186,000 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $78,872,000 after acquiring an additional 2,838,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Lyft by 274.6% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,959,267 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $38,175,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169,255 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.