Lear (NYSE:LEA) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Lear (NYSE:LEA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Lear in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Lear from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays cut their price objective on Lear from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $114.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.08.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA opened at $97.82 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $108.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.82. Lear has a 1 year low of $97.26 and a 1 year high of $147.11. The firm has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.29, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.32. Lear had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 2.30%. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.87 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lear will post 12.27 EPS for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Lear’s payout ratio is presently 32.39%.

Institutional Trading of Lear

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEA. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lear in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Lear in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lear by 70.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 266 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Lear by 240.4% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 303 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 71.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently 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.