StockNews.com Upgrades Lear (NYSE:LEA) to Buy

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

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Lear in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Lear from $106.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $140.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lear has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.67.

Lear Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of LEA opened at $94.49 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.45. Lear has a 52 week low of $91.70 and a 52 week high of $147.11.

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

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is 32.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lear

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEA. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 7.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 144,282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $15,748,000 after purchasing an additional 9,774 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Lear by 18.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 196,829 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $21,015,000 after buying an additional 30,529 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Lear during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lear by 10.9% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,052 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 63.5% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,426 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 1,331 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.