Barclays Increases Lear (NYSE:LEA) Price Target to $175.00

Lear (NYSE:LEA) had its target price upped by equities research analysts at Barclays from $170.00 to $175.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the auto parts company’s stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 30.88% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on LEA. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Lear from $195.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lear has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.44.

Lear Price Performance

LEA opened at $133.71 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $139.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.35. Lear has a 1 year low of $117.79 and a 1 year high of $157.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.54.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.81 earnings per share. Lear’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lear will post 14.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of Lear stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,627 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,483.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of Lear 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of Lear 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lear

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LEA. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lear in the third quarter worth $26,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Lear in the first quarter worth $32,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lear in the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

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.