Lear (NYSE:LEA) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear (NYSE:LEA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Lear in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Lear from $106.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays downgraded shares of Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $132.00 price objective on shares of Lear in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.67.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of Lear stock opened at $94.78 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.69. The company has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.45. Lear has a one year low of $91.70 and a one year high of $147.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.33.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.87 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lear will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Lear during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Lear by 70.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 266 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Lear in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lear by 240.4% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 303 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Lear by 71.6% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in 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.