Lear (NYSE:LEA) Reaches New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $139.00 to $132.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Lear traded as low as $113.14 and last traded at $113.53, with a volume of 85786 shares. The stock had previously closed at $114.89.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Lear from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lear from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $160.00 in a report on Friday, May 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $159,174.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of the company’s 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Lear during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Lear during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Lear by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lear in the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Lear during the first quarter worth $62,000. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lear Trading Down 1.0 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $125.50 and a 200-day moving average of $133.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.51.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.14. Lear had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The firm had revenue of $5.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 14.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

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

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.