Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Benchmark

Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) in a report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a hold rating on the ride-sharing company’s stock.

LYFT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on shares of Lyft from $19.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Nomura raised shares of Lyft from a “reduce” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Lyft from $20.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Lyft from $19.00 to $13.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Lyft in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-seven have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.59.

Lyft Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LYFT opened at $13.89 on Friday. Lyft has a 52-week low of $8.85 and a 52-week high of $20.82. The company has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -86.81 and a beta of 2.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.05. Lyft had a negative net margin of 1.27% and a negative return on equity of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.14) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lyft will post -0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lyft

In other news, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.32, for a total transaction of $27,439.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 929,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,523,502.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Lyft news, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 4,243 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total value of $50,916.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 760,089 shares in the company, valued at $9,121,068. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John Patrick Zimmer sold 2,424 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.32, for a total value of $27,439.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 929,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,523,502.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 32,664 shares of company stock valued at $380,048. 3.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyft

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in Lyft by 47.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 7,871 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Lyft by 25.9% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 40,494 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 8,328 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Lyft during the third quarter valued at $423,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lyft in the 3rd quarter worth about $301,000. Finally, Hedges Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Lyft by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC now owns 124,000 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $1,581,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.