Morgan Stanley Cuts Lear (NYSE:LEA) Price Target to $115.00

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

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on LEA. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Lear from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 price objective on Lear and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Cowen lowered Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Lear in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $123.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lear has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.09.

Lear Stock Down 3.0%

LEA opened at $91.12 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $86.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.83. 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 company has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.19, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30. Lear has a one year low of $73.85 and a one year high of $127.97.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Lear will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rod Lache acquired 2,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,940.40. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lear

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 187.0% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lear by 68.2% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lear during the first quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. 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.