Lear (NYSE:LEA) Price Target Cut to $139.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada

Lear (NYSE:LEA) had its price objective reduced by Royal Bank Of Canada from $143.00 to $139.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the auto parts company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Lear from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 target price (down from $175.00) on shares of Lear in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $131.00 target price on shares of Lear in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Lear from $137.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.58.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA stock opened at $117.29 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Lear has a 52-week low of $96.04 and a 52-week high of $150.33.

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

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Lear’s payout ratio is 28.70%.

Lear declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto parts company to buy up to 25.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.35, for a total transaction of $199,742.10. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lear

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Lear by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,943,480 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $356,380,000 after buying an additional 107,678 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Lear during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,397,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Lear by 220.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 258,063 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $29,574,000 after buying an additional 177,632 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Lear by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 176,084 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $21,320,000 after buying an additional 39,422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 14.4% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 151,156 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $18,302,000 after acquiring an additional 18,990 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

About Lear

Lear Corporation (NYSE: LEA) is a global automotive technology supplier that designs and manufactures products used by vehicle manufacturers worldwide. The company’s principal business areas are seating systems and e-systems, which support the functionality, comfort, safety and connectivity of modern vehicles.

Lear’s seating business provides complete seating systems and related components, including seat structures, mechanisms, foam, trim, covers and comfort technologies. Its e-systems business develops electrical distribution systems, connection systems, electronic components and software-enabled technologies that help manage power, data and connectivity within vehicles.

Founded in 1917 and headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, Lear serves automotive manufacturers through operations and facilities across major vehicle-producing regions, including North America, Europe and Asia.