Lear (NYSE:LEA) PT Raised to $179.00

Lear (NYSE:LEA) had its price objective upped by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $177.00 to $179.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the auto parts company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price points to a potential upside of 34.05% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on LEA. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.44.

Lear Price Performance

LEA opened at $133.53 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $138.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.88. Lear has a fifty-two week low of $117.79 and a fifty-two week high of $157.90. The firm has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.54.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lear will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Lear news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of Lear stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,019.86. 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

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Lear by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,237,016 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $174,382,000 after purchasing an additional 149,958 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Lear in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,356,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Lear during the fourth quarter worth about $2,316,000. Lakewood Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lear by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 9,995 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,411,000 after buying an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 273,942 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $36,763,000 after purchasing an additional 73,559 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.