Lear (NYSE:LEA) Upgraded to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Lear to “Buy” from “Hold,” but the broader analyst consensus remains “Hold,” with a consensus price target of $147.08.
• Lear’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations: EPS was $4.28 versus the $3.98 consensus, while revenue rose 3% year over year to $6.21 billion.
• The stock opened at $131.06, up 2.5%, while insiders recently sold shares, including CEO Raymond E. Scott’s $6.77 million sale; institutional investors own 97.04% of the company.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on LEA. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Lear from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Lear in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Lear from $137.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Lear from $153.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Lear from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lear presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $147.08.

Lear Stock Up 2.5%

LEA opened at $131.06 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $131.25 and a 200 day moving average of $130.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Lear has a 12 month low of $96.04 and a 12 month high of $150.33. The company has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.26.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The auto parts company reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.98 by $0.30. Lear had a return on equity of 14.18% and a net margin of 2.35%.The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.06 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lear will post 14.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Conrad Mallett, Jr. sold 1,646 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.35, for a total transaction of $199,742.10. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 37 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,489.95. This trade represents a 97.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 50,000 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.37, for a total value of $6,768,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 49,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,739,936.93. This represents a 50.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lear

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LEA. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Lear in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. WealthCollab LLC bought a new position in shares of Lear in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lear in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Lear by 62.6% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 309 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Lear by 942.3% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 271 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lear News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Lear this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: The news feed contains no announcements concerning Lear Corporation’s earnings, vehicle-production outlook, contracts, restructuring, acquisitions, or analyst recommendations. The recent articles about Meta’s AI financing, education legislation, and unrelated personal-finance and entertainment topics are not directly relevant to LEA.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several headlines use “Lear” in references to Norman Lear or Shakespeare’s King Lear; these are unrelated to the automotive supplier and should not be interpreted as business news for Lear Corporation.

About Lear

Lear Corporation is a global automotive technology company that designs and manufactures systems and components used in passenger vehicles. Its business is organized primarily around two areas: seating and E-Systems. Lear supplies complete vehicle seating systems, including seats, structures, mechanisms, foam, covers and related components, as well as electrical distribution systems and other technologies that help manage power, data and connectivity within vehicles.

The company's E-Systems offerings include low- and high-voltage wiring systems, connection systems, battery and power-management solutions, electronic control modules, displays and software-enabled technologies.

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