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

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

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on LEA. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $162.44.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEA opened at $135.15 on Monday. Lear has a 1 year low of $117.79 and a 1 year high of $157.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.87.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.12 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.81 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Lear will post 14.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,483.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lear

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LEA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lear in the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,611,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Lear by 970.4% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 540,850 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $76,373,000 after purchasing an additional 490,324 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Lear by 236.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 577,690 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $77,526,000 after purchasing an additional 405,875 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Lear by 66.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 981,669 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $138,595,000 after purchasing an additional 391,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lyrical Asset Management LP lifted its stake in Lear by 55.4% in the 4th quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,067,888 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $150,796,000 after purchasing an additional 380,771 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Lear

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.