Lear (NYSE:LEA) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lear (NYSE:LEA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on LEA. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $162.44.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE LEA opened at $133.48 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a fifty day moving average of $138.80 and a 200-day moving average of $135.85. Lear has a 52-week low of $117.79 and a 52-week high of $157.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.12 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 2.44%. Lear’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lear will post 14.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s payout ratio is 31.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,483.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Lear during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Lear in the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 131.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 443 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Lear in the fourth quarter worth approximately $75,000. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Company Profile

Lear Corporation designs, develops, engineers, manufactures, assembles, and supplies automotive seating, and electrical distribution systems and related components for automotive original equipment manufacturers in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. Its Seating segment offers seat systems, seat subsystems, keyseat components, seat trim covers, seat mechanisms, seat foams, and headrests, as well as surface materials, such as leather and fabric for automobiles and light trucks, compact cars, pick-up trucks, and sport utility vehicles.