Lear (NYSE:LEA) Downgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Lear (NYSE:LEA) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on LEA. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays upped their price target on Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Benchmark increased their target price on Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.44.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA opened at $133.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Lear has a one year low of $117.79 and a one year high of $157.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a fifty day moving average of $138.88 and a 200 day moving average of $135.88.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.12 by ($0.09). Lear had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 2.44%. The firm had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.81 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lear will post 14.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Lear

In related news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total value of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the sale, 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LEA. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lear in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $79,611,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $76,373,000 after purchasing an additional 490,324 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 236.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 577,690 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $77,526,000 after purchasing an additional 405,875 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 66.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 981,669 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $138,595,000 after purchasing an additional 391,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lyrical Asset Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 55.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 380,771 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is 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.