StockNews.com Lowers Lear (NYSE:LEA) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Lear (NYSE:LEA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on LEA. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lear from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on Lear from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on Lear from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Lear from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $160.00.

Lear Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE LEA opened at $113.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.33. Lear has a 1 year low of $112.55 and a 1 year high of $157.90. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.14. The firm has a market cap of $6.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.51.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.14. Lear had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 2.28%. The company had revenue of $5.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.78 EPS. Lear’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lear will post 14.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lear news, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.86, for a total transaction of $296,273.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.86, for a total transaction of $296,273.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $159,174.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lear in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Lear in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Lear by 32.3% in the 4th 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Lear during the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 131.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 443 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. 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.