Lear (NYSE:LEA) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Lear Corporation's stock price gapped down from $108.14 to $101.86 before opening, with last trades recorded at $100.61.
• Recent analyst ratings show varied sentiments, with Goldman Sachs setting a price target of $88.00, while Wall Street Zen upgraded it to a "buy" rating.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77, yielding an annualized dividend of $3.08 and a payout ratio of 36.11%.
• Lear reported earnings of $3.47 per share in its latest quarterly results, surpassing estimates and showing a slight revenue increase compared to the previous year.

Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $108.14, but opened at $101.86. Lear shares last traded at $100.61, with a volume of 215,535 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on LEA. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 price target on shares of Lear and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Lear from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $116.00 price objective (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Lear in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lear has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $113.64.

Lear Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company's fifty day moving average price is $96.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.87.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.03 by $0.44. Lear had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 14.53%. Lear's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lear Corporation will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. Lear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,187 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 represents a 93.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lear

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lear by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,657,389 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $587,315,000 after purchasing an additional 165,494 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Lear by 0.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,631,477 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $232,145,000 after purchasing an additional 17,250 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Lear by 6.6% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,358,330 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $208,052,000 after purchasing an additional 145,751 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Lear by 45.9% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,133,186 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $107,313,000 after purchasing an additional 356,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lyrical Asset Management LP lifted its position in shares of Lear by 0.3% in the first quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,060,216 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $93,532,000 after purchasing an additional 3,522 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.

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