Stock Repurchase Program Announced by Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT)

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 11th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the ride-sharing company to repurchase up to 8.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Lyft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LYFT opened at $13.47 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -84.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Lyft has a 1 year low of $8.93 and a 1 year high of $20.82.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.10). Lyft had a negative net margin of 1.19% and a negative return on equity of 1.58%. As a group, research analysts predict that Lyft will post 0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LYFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Lyft from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Lyft from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Lyft from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Lyft from $10.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Lyft from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.22.

Insider Activity at Lyft

In other Lyft news, Director Logan Green sold 10,919 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.25, for a total transaction of $188,352.75. Following the sale, the director now owns 314,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,424,987. The trade was a 3.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.