Lear (NYSE:LEA) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lear (NYSE:LEA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Lear from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Lear from $137.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on Lear from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup increased their price target on Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $138.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.23.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEA opened at $122.94 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.47. Lear has a 52 week low of $96.04 and a 52 week high of $150.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.46, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.25.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The auto parts company reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.98 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.15 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 14.18%. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.06 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Lear will post 14.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,646 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.35, for a total value of $199,742.10. Following the sale, the director directly owned 37 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,489.95. This represents a 97.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.37, for a total value of $6,768,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 49,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,739,936.93. This represents a 50.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 61,336 shares of company stock worth $8,367,727 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lear

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Lear by 12,951.3% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,843,046 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,051,439,000 after purchasing an additional 7,782,952 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lear during the 4th quarter valued at $82,016,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Lear during the 2nd quarter valued at $65,397,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Lear in the 2nd quarter worth $39,656,000. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new stake in shares of Lear in the 3rd quarter worth $40,984,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Lear

Here are the key news stories impacting Lear this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: No relevant Lear-specific announcements or analyst actions were included in the latest news feed, so the stock’s decrease appears unrelated to the supplied articles.
• Neutral Sentiment: The most recent reported fundamentals remain supportive: Lear previously beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, with revenue up 3% year over year. However, those results are not new information in this news set.

Lear Company Profile

Lear Corporation (NYSE: LEA) is a global supplier of automotive seating and electrical distribution systems. The company designs, engineers and manufactures complete seat systems, seat components and power solutions for major vehicle manufacturers. Its electrical business delivers modules and components for battery management, infotainment, body and safety electronics, as well as advanced connectivity and electrification solutions.

The seating division develops lightweight, ergonomic seat structures, trim and mechanisms that address comfort, safety and environmental targets.