Lear (NYSE:LEA) Given New $115.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Lear (NYSE:LEA) had its price objective cut by Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $115.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the auto parts company’s stock.

LEA has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Lear from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Lear in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $123.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lear presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.09.

Lear Price Performance

NYSE LEA opened at $94.18 on Monday. Lear has a twelve month low of $73.85 and a twelve month high of $130.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.84.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.48. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Lear will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. Lear’s payout ratio is currently 36.11%.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other news, Director Rod Lache acquired 2,178 shares of Lear stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at $199,940.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LEA. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Lear by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,049 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $14,742,000 after buying an additional 12,094 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in Lear by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 427 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Lear by 233.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 410 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Lear by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,842,247 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $174,461,000 after buying an additional 22,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lear by 187.0% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.