Wells Fargo & Company Raises Lear (NYSE:LEA) Price Target to $139.00

Lear (NYSE:LEA) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $134.00 to $139.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the auto parts company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on LEA. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. 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 stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $160.33.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE:LEA opened at $127.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.55. Lear has a 1-year low of $117.79 and a 1-year high of $157.90.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Lear will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given 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 payout ratio is currently 33.59%.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,465,019.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,483.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares in the company, 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 institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 48,915 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 5,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is 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.