Lear (NYSE:LEA) Downgraded to Equal Weight Rating by Barclays

Barclays downgraded shares of Lear (NYSE:LEA) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $120.00 price objective on the auto parts company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $140.00.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $136.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Lear from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lear presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.08.

Lear Stock Up 1.0 %

LEA opened at $96.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Lear has a 52 week low of $95.63 and a 52 week high of $147.11. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.43.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.32. Lear had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The business had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Lear will post 12.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Lear during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,984,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 307,383 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $44,534,000 after acquiring an additional 5,584 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 35.2% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 54,995 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $7,953,000 after acquiring an additional 14,305 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Lear during the 2nd quarter worth $530,000. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 73.6% during the 1st quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 11,754 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,703,000 after acquiring an additional 4,984 shares during 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.