Lear (NYSE:LEA) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Analysts at Wall Street Zen downgraded Lear (NYSE:LEA) from a "strong-buy" to a "buy" rating, adjusting investor expectations.
• The stock has seen varying target price adjustments from multiple firms, with a current average target price of $113.00 and nine analysts rating it as a hold.
• Insider trading activity includes the sale of shares by Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. and CFO Jason M. Cardew, reflecting a decrease in their ownership by 93.39% and 19.81%, respectively.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

LEA has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 target price on Lear and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $116.00 to $109.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Lear from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lear from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $113.00.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $95.91. 533,143 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 699,245. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $97.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.98. Lear has a 52-week low of $73.85 and a 52-week high of $119.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.30.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.24. Lear had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 2.05%. The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.89 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lear will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 5,000 shares of the business's 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 approximately $1,993,426.68. The trade was a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.77, for a total value of $483,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 38,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,747,805.33. This represents a 11.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,187 shares of company stock worth $1,086,425 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Lear

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LEA. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Lear by 1,384.2% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 282 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lear during the first quarter worth $39,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 100.0% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 454 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Lear by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 491 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Lear in the fourth quarter valued at about $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.