Lear (NYSE:LEA) Price Target Raised to $175.00

Lear (NYSE:LEA) had its price objective lifted by Barclays from $170.00 to $175.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the auto parts company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on LEA. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Benchmark raised their price target on Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Lear from $195.00 to $179.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lear from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lear currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $162.44.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE:LEA opened at $133.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.61 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.54. Lear has a fifty-two week low of $117.79 and a fifty-two week high of $157.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $139.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.88.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.81 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Lear will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Lear’s payout ratio is presently 31.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $1,810,483.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $1,810,483.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,465,019.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Lear in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Lear in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Lear by 90.8% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 290 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Lear in the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.