BMO Capital Markets Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Stock Price

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) had its target price dropped by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $18.00 to $15.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the ride-sharing company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 11.36% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on LYFT. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Lyft from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Lyft from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark raised Lyft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Lyft from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Lyft from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.22.

Lyft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LYFT opened at $13.47 on Wednesday. Lyft has a 12-month low of $8.93 and a 12-month high of $20.82. The company has a market cap 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.10). Lyft had a negative return on equity of 1.58% and a negative net margin of 1.19%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lyft will post 0.06 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Transactions at Lyft

In other news, Director Logan Green sold 10,919 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.25, for a total transaction of $188,352.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 314,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,424,987. This represents a 3.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lyft

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Lyft in the third quarter worth about $90,604,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lyft by 282.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,623,227 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $111,240,000 after acquiring an additional 6,365,727 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lyft during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,599,000. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted 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 valued at $78,872,000 after buying an additional 2,838,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted 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 valued at $38,175,000 after buying an additional 2,169,255 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.