Analysts Set LifeStance Health Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFST) Target Price at $9.83

LifeStance Health Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFST) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $9.8333.

LFST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded LifeStance Health Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on LifeStance Health Group from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. BTIG Research upped their target price on LifeStance Health Group from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of LifeStance Health Group from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th.

LifeStance Health Group Trading Up 2.0%

NASDAQ:LFST opened at $6.53 on Thursday. LifeStance Health Group has a 12 month low of $3.74 and a 12 month high of $8.09. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 326.66 and a beta of 1.11.

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $382.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $378.51 million. LifeStance Health Group had a net margin of 0.68% and a return on equity of 0.65%. LifeStance Health Group’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.01) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that LifeStance Health Group will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

LifeStance Health Group announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 25th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Darren M. Black sold 4,314,939 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.01, for a total transaction of $30,247,722.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 29,209,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,760,529.76. This trade represents a 12.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LifeStance Health Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 19.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,613,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,374,000 after buying an additional 2,383,728 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN purchased a new position in LifeStance Health Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $508,000. Everhart Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in LifeStance Health Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $787,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in LifeStance Health Group by 259.1% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,360,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,031,000 after acquiring an additional 981,349 shares during the period. Finally, Integral Health Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in LifeStance Health Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,250,000. 85.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LifeStance Health Group Company Profile

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) is a leading provider of outpatient mental health services in the United States. Headquartered in New York City, the company operates a growing network of clinics that deliver integrated, patient-centered psychological and psychiatric care. LifeStance’s mission is to expand access to high-quality mental health treatment by combining evidence-based therapy modalities with personalized treatment plans.

The company’s service offerings include individual, family, and group psychotherapy, psychiatric medication management, psychological assessment, and telehealth services.