Lear (NYSE:LEA) Given New $141.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Lear (NYSE:LEA) had its price target cut by Citigroup from $145.00 to $141.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the auto parts company’s stock.

LEA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Benchmark upped their price objective on Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lear from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $161.44.

Lear Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:LEA opened at $124.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.77. Lear has a 12-month low of $117.79 and a 12-month high of $157.90.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 2.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Lear will post 14.51 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

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

Institutional Trading of Lear

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LEA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lear in the fourth quarter valued at $79,611,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Lear by 970.4% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 540,850 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $76,373,000 after acquiring an additional 490,324 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Lear by 236.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 577,690 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $77,526,000 after acquiring an additional 405,875 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in Lear by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 981,669 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $138,595,000 after buying an additional 391,949 shares during the period. Finally, Lyrical Asset Management LP lifted its position in 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 during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.