Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $160.78.

Several research firms have commented on LEA. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lear from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Friday, May 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Lear from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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.

Lear Trading Down 1.1 %

LEA opened at $114.60 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Lear has a fifty-two week low of $114.43 and a fifty-two week high of $157.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50-day moving average is $128.31 and its 200 day moving average is $134.31.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Lear will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. Lear’s payout ratio is 33.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of Lear stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.86, for a total value of $296,273.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of Lear 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were 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

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LEA. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Lear by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Lear by 0.5% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 18,393 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,665,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Lear by 2.7% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,828 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,828 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $989,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 882 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is 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.