Bank of America Cuts Lear (NYSE:LEA) Price Target to $185.00

Lear (NYSE:LEA) had its price objective cut by Bank of America from $205.00 to $185.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the auto parts company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on LEA. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Lear from $141.00 to $127.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Lear from $179.00 to $166.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lear from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $160.00 in a report on Friday, May 10th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Lear from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $157.80.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA opened at $116.45 on Monday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $120.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.31. The company has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

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. Lear had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 2.28%. The firm had revenue of $5.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.78 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Lear will post 14.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.59%.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $159,174.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Lear news, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.86, for a total value of $296,273.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Perennial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Lear by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Perennial Advisors LLC now owns 32,912 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,759,000 after purchasing an additional 2,746 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Lear during the second quarter worth about $1,388,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Lear in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Lear in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $663,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Lear by 8.1% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 101,138 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $11,551,000 after purchasing an additional 7,556 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.