Lear (NYSE:LEA) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Lear (NYSE:LEA) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on LEA. Cowen cut Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays lowered shares of Lear from an “equal weight” rating to a “negative” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.09.

Lear Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of Lear stock opened at $88.93 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.22. Lear has a 52-week low of $73.85 and a 52-week high of $133.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at $199,940.40. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Lear in the 1st quarter worth $330,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Lear by 26.7% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,010 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in Lear by 955.2% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,108 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in Lear in the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,103,000. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP boosted its stake in Lear by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 479,994 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $42,345,000 after purchasing an additional 69,086 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.