Lear (NYSE:LEA) Downgraded by StockNews.com

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

A number of other brokerages have also commented on LEA. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lear from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Lear from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note 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 research report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays lowered their price target on Lear from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $160.78.

Lear Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE LEA opened at $115.68 on Friday. Lear has a 1 year low of $114.43 and a 1 year high of $157.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $128.82 and its 200-day moving average is $134.43.

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

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.59%.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In related news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $159,174.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.86, for a total transaction of $296,273.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Lear during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Lear in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Lear by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lear during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Lear by 131.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 443 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

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.