Lear (NYSE:LEA) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

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

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on LEA. Barclays cut Lear from an “equal weight” rating to a “negative” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Lear from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lear from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.00.

Lear Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:LEA opened at $93.76 on Thursday. Lear has a 1-year low of $73.85 and a 1-year high of $131.55. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $87.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.49, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.12 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.18 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Lear will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LEA. Schroder Investment Management Group acquired a new position in shares of Lear during the 4th quarter worth approximately $90,700,000. Oldfield Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Lear during the 1st quarter worth approximately $53,799,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Lear by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,212,579 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $209,531,000 after purchasing an additional 498,918 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lear by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,491,895 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $614,782,000 after purchasing an additional 447,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Lear by 105.7% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 710,962 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $62,721,000 after purchasing an additional 365,382 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.