Lear (NYSE:LEA) Price Target Lowered to $166.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) had its price target lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $179.00 to $166.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the auto parts company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lear from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Lear from $141.00 to $127.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an in-line rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lear from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $139.00 to $132.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $157.80.

Lear Price Performance

LEA opened at $120.76 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $119.80 and a 200-day moving average of $130.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.47. Lear has a 12-month low of $112.26 and a 12-month high of $157.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.14. Lear had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 2.28%. The company had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Lear will post 13.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $159,174.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.86, for a total value of $296,273.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $159,174.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LEA. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 29.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 45,916 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $6,162,000 after buying an additional 10,324 shares during the period. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. lifted its stake in Lear by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 22,296 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,148,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Lear by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 88,489 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $12,495,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Lear by 76.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,753 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 3,781 shares during the period. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in Lear by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 14,001 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 3,186 shares during the period. 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.