Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,830,000 shares, an increase of 15.0% from the March 15th total of 2,460,000 shares. Currently, 5.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 531,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LEA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Lear from $195.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.44.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEA traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $131.93. The stock had a trading volume of 437,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 531,147. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $139.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.87. The company has a market capitalization of $7.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Lear has a fifty-two week low of $117.79 and a fifty-two week high of $157.90.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.12 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lear will post 14.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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 value of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 SEC, 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 dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The transaction 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 dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Lear by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,792,397 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,226,452,000 after acquiring an additional 227,230 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Lear by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,912,006 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $793,391,000 after acquiring an additional 45,567 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Lear by 47.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,064,807 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $437,259,000 after acquiring an additional 993,216 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Lear by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,463,244 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $351,234,000 after acquiring an additional 12,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Lear by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,179,175 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $307,721,000 after acquiring an additional 153,282 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.