Lear (NYSE:LEA) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Lear (NYSE:LEA) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.08.

Lear Stock Up 0.6 %

LEA traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $97.51. 819,780 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 658,496. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.66. The company has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.25, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.46. Lear has a fifty-two week low of $94.29 and a fifty-two week high of $147.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The business’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.87 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Lear will post 12.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Lear during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,984,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in Lear by 35.2% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 54,995 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $7,953,000 after purchasing an additional 14,305 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in Lear in the second quarter valued at approximately $530,000. Shell Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in Lear by 73.6% in the first quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 11,754 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,703,000 after acquiring an additional 4,984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in Lear by 4.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,023,165 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $148,216,000 after acquiring an additional 41,496 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.