Lear (NYSE:LEA) Price Target Raised to $115.00

Lear (NYSE:LEA) had its price target lifted by Bank of America from $110.00 to $115.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the auto parts company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on LEA. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lear from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 price target on shares of Lear and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.09.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA opened at $91.27 on Monday. Lear has a 52-week low of $73.85 and a 52-week high of $126.85. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.29.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.48. Lear had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 2.09%. The firm had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Lear will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. Lear’s payout ratio is 36.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,187 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total transaction of $110,224.82. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 84 shares in the company, valued at $7,800.24. This trade represents a 93.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LEA. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lear by 68.2% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lear in the first quarter worth about $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 491 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lear during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Lear by 131.8% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 765 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.