JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Lear (NYSE:LEA) Price Target to $179.00

Lear (NYSE:LEA) had its price target hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $177.00 to $179.00 in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the auto parts company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lear from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $162.44.

Lear Price Performance

NYSE:LEA opened at $134.18 on Monday. Lear has a one year low of $117.79 and a one year high of $157.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $7.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $138.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.89.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.12 by ($0.09). Lear had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The business had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. Lear’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Lear will post 14.52 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 value of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. 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 have recently bought and sold shares of LEA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,912,006 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $793,391,000 after buying an additional 45,567 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,179,175 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $307,721,000 after buying an additional 153,282 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,896,871 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $254,560,000 after buying an additional 287,483 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,237,016 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $174,382,000 after buying an additional 149,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lyrical Asset Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 55.4% during the 4th quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,067,888 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $150,796,000 after buying an additional 380,771 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.