Lear (NYSE:LEA) Price Target Increased to $139.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Lear (NYSE:LEA) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $134.00 to $139.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the auto parts company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Benchmark increased their target price on shares of Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $161.44.

Lear Trading Down 1.3 %

LEA stock opened at $124.29 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $138.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.54. Lear has a twelve month low of $117.79 and a twelve month high of $157.90.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lear will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s payout ratio is 31.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other Lear news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,483.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total value of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,465,019.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lear

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Lear by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 24,375 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,271,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Lear by 336.6% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 63,448 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $8,515,000 after buying an additional 48,915 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Lear by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,975 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Lear by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 39,700 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,328,000 after buying an additional 5,379 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Lear by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 70,132 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $9,412,000 after buying an additional 15,496 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.