Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $153.56.

LEA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Lear from $132.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays lowered their price target on Lear from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA stock opened at $110.08 on Thursday. Lear has a 52-week low of $107.25 and a 52-week high of $147.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.42.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.02 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 2.30%. Lear’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Lear will post 13.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $159,174.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of Lear stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.86, for a total value of $296,273.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lear

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Lear in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Lear in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Lear in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 70.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 266 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Lear by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

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.