Lear (NYSE:LEA) Price Target Raised to $120.00

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) had its price objective increased by Barclays from $100.00 to $120.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the auto parts company's stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on LEA. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Lear from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $116.00 target price (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Lear in a report on Monday. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Lear from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Lear from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Lear currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $113.64.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEA traded down $2.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $103.80. The stock had a trading volume of 122,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 708,600. The company's 50-day moving average price is $95.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.43. The company has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 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. Lear has a fifty-two week low of $73.85 and a fifty-two week high of $126.85.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.48. Lear had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The company had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.18 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lear will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Lear's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,187 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total transaction of $110,224.82. Following the sale, the director owned 84 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,800.24. This represents a 93.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Lear

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LEA. Schroder Investment Management Group purchased a new stake in Lear in the fourth quarter worth $90,700,000. Oldfield Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Lear during the first quarter valued at $53,799,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Lear by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,212,579 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $209,531,000 after buying an additional 498,918 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lear by 483.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 567,335 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $49,625,000 after buying an additional 470,096 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lear by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,491,895 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $614,782,000 after buying an additional 447,835 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.