Lear (NYSE:LEA) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lear (NYSE:LEA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday.

LEA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Lear from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays cut their target price on Lear from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Lear from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lear presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $160.33.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of Lear stock opened at $129.14 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.55. Lear has a 1-year low of $120.48 and a 1-year high of $157.90.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.14. Lear had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The company had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.78 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lear will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Lear

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Lear in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Lear in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Lear in the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.