Analyzing Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) & Firstgroup (OTCMKTS:FGROY)

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) and Firstgroup (OTCMKTS:FGROY) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

83.1% of Lyft shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Lyft shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Firstgroup shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Lyft has a beta of 1.8, suggesting that its share price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Firstgroup has a beta of 0.33, suggesting that its share price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Lyft and Firstgroup’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lyft	43.82%	-2.09%	-0.54%
Firstgroup	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lyft and Firstgroup”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lyft	$6.32 billion	0.99	$2.84 billion	$6.85	2.41
Firstgroup	$6.37 billion	0.20	$158.56 million	N/A	N/A

Lyft has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Firstgroup.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Lyft and Firstgroup, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lyft	4	21	12	0	2.22
Firstgroup	0	0	1	0	3.00

Lyft currently has a consensus price target of $19.43, indicating a potential upside of 17.74%. Given Lyft’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Lyft is more favorable than Firstgroup.

Summary

Lyft beats Firstgroup on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. It also offers centralized tools and enterprise transportation solutions, such as concierge transportation solutions for organizations; Lyft Pink subscription plans; Lyft Pass commuter programs; first-mile and last-mile services; and university safe rides programs. The company was formerly known as Zimride, Inc. and changed its name to Lyft, Inc. in April 2013. Lyft, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Firstgroup

FirstGroup plc provides public transport services in the United Kingdom. The company operates through First Bus and First Rail segments. The First Bus segment offers local bus services with a fleet of approximately 4,800 buses in the United Kingdom. The First Rail segment operates a passenger rail network that provides long-distance, commuter, regional, and sleeper services through a portfolio of Great Western Railway, South Western Railway, and Avanti West Coast franchises; and hull trains and Lumos. FirstGroup plc was founded in 1986 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.