Lyft’s (LYFT) Overweight Rating Reaffirmed at Piper Sandler

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Piper Sandler in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $21.00 price target on the ride-sharing company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $20.00. Piper Sandler’s price objective points to a potential upside of 21.70% from the stock’s current price.

LYFT has been the subject of several other reports. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Lyft from $19.00 to $14.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Monday. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Lyft in a research note on Friday. William Blair downgraded Lyft to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Lyft in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lyft presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.50.

Lyft Trading Up 5.9%

LYFT traded up $0.95 during trading on Friday, hitting $17.25. 12,543,680 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,124,954. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.80. Lyft has a 12-month low of $12.46 and a 12-month high of $25.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $14.88 and a 200 day moving average of $14.53.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.01). Lyft had a negative return on equity of 2.09% and a net margin of 43.82%.The firm had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lyft will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lyft

In related news, CFO Erin Brewer sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.59, for a total transaction of $203,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 705,979 shares in the company, valued at $9,594,254.61. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Lindsay Catherine Llewellyn sold 36,214 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.14, for a total value of $584,493.96. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 817,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,194,724.38. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 81,749 shares of company stock worth $1,221,950. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lyft

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LYFT. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of Lyft by 23.2% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,399 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lyft by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,808 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Lyft by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,153 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Lyft by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 167,399 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $3,684,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lyft by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 89,753 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $1,739,000 after acquiring an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Lyft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Lyft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue and bookings exceeded expectations. Lyft reported second-quarter revenue of $1.84 billion, ahead of the $1.81 billion consensus estimate, while gross bookings reached a record $5.5 billion. Revenue grew 16.1% year over year. Reuters: Lyft signals steady demand as second-quarter revenue tops estimates
• Positive Sentiment: User engagement remained strong. Active riders surpassed 30 million and rides also reached a record, supported by demand for higher-value services, international expansion and partnerships. Lyft reports Q2 results ahead of expectations as active riders surpass 30M
• Positive Sentiment: Management issued a constructive outlook. Lyft’s current-quarter gross-bookings forecast was slightly above Wall Street expectations, reinforcing the view that demand remains steady. CEO David Risher attributed profitable growth to customer-focused execution. Lyft sets records on rides and bookings, sets upbeat outlook for Q3
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target. The firm increased its target from $18 to $19 while maintaining a Neutral rating, indicating modest potential appreciation from recent levels. Benzinga analyst price-target update
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains cautious. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted its target from $14 to $17 and Evercore ISI reiterated a Hold rating, reflecting confidence in demand but less conviction about rapid margin improvement. Evercore ISI maintains Hold rating
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability fell short. Quarterly EPS was reported at $0.13, narrowly below the $0.14 consensus, with higher promotions weighing on results. Lyft also expects bookings growth to moderate to 15%–19% in the current quarter. Lyft’s bookings climb, but expects growth to moderate

About Lyft

Lyft, Inc (NASDAQ: LYFT) operates a peer-to-peer ridesharing platform that connects passengers with drivers through a mobile application. Since its founding in 2012, the company has expanded beyond traditional ride-hailing to include bike and electric scooter rentals, while also offering rental cars and public transit options in select markets. Lyft’s platform uses GPS mapping and dynamic pricing algorithms to optimize driver-passenger matches and route efficiency.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Lyft primarily serves urban and suburban markets across the United States and Canada.