Lear (NYSE:LEA) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

Lear (NYSE:LEA) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on LEA. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Benchmark boosted their price target on Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.44.

Lear Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE LEA opened at $137.25 on Tuesday. Lear has a 1 year low of $117.79 and a 1 year high of $157.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.18, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business’s 50-day moving average is $138.83 and its 200 day moving average is $135.84.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 14.09%. Lear’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lear will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total value of $1,415,224.72. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,483.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 24,375 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,271,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 336.6% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 63,448 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $8,515,000 after purchasing an additional 48,915 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 4.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,975 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 15.7% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 39,700 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,328,000 after purchasing an additional 5,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Lear by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 70,132 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $9,412,000 after buying an additional 15,496 shares during the period. 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.