Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Short Interest Update

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,280,000 shares, an increase of 11.2% from the June 15th total of 2,050,000 shares. Approximately 4.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 766,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LEA has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Lear from $136.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Lear from $139.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Lear from $141.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.22.

Lear Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE:LEA traded up $4.87 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $123.58. 420,347 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 647,643. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.47. Lear has a one year low of $112.26 and a one year high of $157.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $121.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.11.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 2.28%. Lear’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lear will post 14.21 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is 33.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.86, for a total transaction of $296,273.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.86, for a total transaction of $296,273.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $159,174.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LEA. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Lear by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 45,916 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $6,162,000 after purchasing an additional 10,324 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Lear by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,912,006 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $793,391,000 after acquiring an additional 45,567 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS increased its stake in Lear by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 21,629 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,054,000 after acquiring an additional 4,129 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Lear by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,237,016 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $174,382,000 after acquiring an additional 149,958 shares during the period. Finally, Lakewood Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Lear by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 9,995 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,411,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by 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.