UBS Group Cuts Lear (NYSE:LEA) Price Target to $142.00

Lear (NYSE:LEA) had its target price decreased by UBS Group from $146.00 to $142.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the auto parts company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on LEA. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Benchmark boosted their target price 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 upgraded Lear from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $160.33.

Lear Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Lear stock opened at $127.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Lear has a 52-week low of $117.79 and a 52-week high of $157.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.63.

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

Lear Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,465,019.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LEA. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Lear by 0.5% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 24,375 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Lear by 336.6% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 63,448 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $8,515,000 after purchasing an additional 48,915 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lear by 4.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,975 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Lear by 15.7% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 39,700 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $5,328,000 after purchasing an additional 5,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Lear by 28.4% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 70,132 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $9,412,000 after acquiring an additional 15,496 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.