Lear (NYSE:LEA) Downgraded by StockNews.com

Lear (NYSE:LEA) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on LEA. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Lear from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup cut their price objective on Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Lear from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lear presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.33.

Lear Stock Performance

LEA stock opened at $128.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $137.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Lear has a 1-year low of $120.48 and a 1-year high of $157.90.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 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 firm had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lear will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Lear news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were 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 owns 13,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,912,006 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $793,391,000 after purchasing an additional 45,567 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Lear by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,179,175 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $307,721,000 after buying an additional 153,282 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Lear by 17.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,896,871 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $254,560,000 after buying an additional 287,483 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,237,016 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $174,382,000 after buying an additional 149,958 shares during the period. Finally, Lyrical Asset Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 55.4% in the 4th quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,067,888 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $150,796,000 after acquiring an additional 380,771 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.