Lear (NYSE:LEA) Price Target Cut to $165.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Lear (NYSE:LEA) had its target price reduced by Barclays from $175.00 to $165.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the auto parts company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on Lear from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lear from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $160.33.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of LEA stock traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $127.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 568,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 688,659. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $138.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.57. Lear has a 1-year low of $117.79 and a 1-year high of $157.90. The company has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.55.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Lear will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,483.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Lear by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,912,006 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $793,391,000 after acquiring an additional 45,567 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lear by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,179,175 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $307,721,000 after purchasing an additional 153,282 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 17.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,896,871 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $254,560,000 after purchasing an additional 287,483 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Lear by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,237,016 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $174,382,000 after buying an additional 149,958 shares during the period. Finally, Lyrical Asset Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 55.4% during the fourth quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,067,888 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $150,796,000 after buying an additional 380,771 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.