StockNews.com Upgrades Lear (NYSE:LEA) to "Buy"

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Thursday.

LEA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Lear from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Lear from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised Lear from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $150.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $161.44.

Lear Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:LEA traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $131.17. The stock had a trading volume of 433,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 570,283. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $136.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.48. Lear has a 12 month low of $120.88 and a 12 month high of $157.90. The company has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.30, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.55.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 14.47%. Lear's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.78 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lear will post 14.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In related news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,465,019.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Lear

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lear during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Lear during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Lear by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Lear in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Lear by 131.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 443 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. 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.