Lear (NYSE:LEA) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear (NYSE:LEA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on LEA. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Lear and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Cowen cut shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Lear from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.00.

Lear Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of LEA opened at $94.69 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $87.05 and its 200 day moving average is $92.88. Lear has a fifty-two week low of $73.85 and a fifty-two week high of $130.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. The company had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.18 earnings per share. Lear’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Lear will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at $199,940.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lear

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LEA. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Lear by 9.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,049 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $14,742,000 after buying an additional 12,094 shares during the last quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lear by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 9,957 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Lear by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 115,324 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $10,921,000 after buying an additional 9,290 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Lear by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 427 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 233.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 410 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.