Lear (NYSE:LEA) Given New $111.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company raised its price target on Lear's stock from $102.00 to $111.00, maintaining an "equal weight" rating, which suggests a potential downside of about 1.43% from its previous close.
• Lear's recent earnings report showed a profit of $3.47 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates of $3.23 and reflecting a modest revenue increase of 0.3% year-over-year.
• Insider transactions revealed that CEO Raymond E. Scott and CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 5,000 shares each, indicating a significant decrease in their positions within the company.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $102.00 to $111.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the auto parts company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target indicates a potential upside of 5.03% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on LEA. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lear from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Lear from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Lear from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Lear from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.70.

Lear Stock Down 3.2%

Shares of LEA traded down $3.50 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $105.68. 838,920 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 517,673. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.87. Lear has a 52 week low of $73.85 and a 52 week high of $115.47. The company has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.34.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.24. Lear had a net margin of 2.05% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The company had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Lear has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lear will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,187 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total value of $110,224.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 84 shares in the company, valued at $7,800.24. This trade represents a 93.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 5,000 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.47, for a total transaction of $492,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 20,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,993,426.68. The trade was a 19.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,187 shares of company stock worth $1,086,425 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lear

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LEA. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Lear by 1,384.2% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 282 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. WealthCollab LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lear in the second quarter worth about $28,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Lear in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lear by 100.0% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 454 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lear in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

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.