Lear (NYSE:LEA) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear (NYSE:LEA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on LEA. Barclays cut shares of Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Lear in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $132.00 price target on shares of Lear in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.25.

Lear Price Performance

Lear stock opened at $95.59 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.05, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Lear has a 12 month low of $94.29 and a 12 month high of $147.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $103.66 and its 200-day moving average is $113.86.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 2.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.87 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Lear will post 12.22 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 11,753.3% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,016,778 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $116,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,200 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Lear by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,187,890 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $820,929,000 after acquiring an additional 946,109 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Lear by 36.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,871,346 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $213,726,000 after acquiring an additional 504,091 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Lear by 115.4% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 561,100 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $64,083,000 after buying an additional 300,667 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lear by 9.5% during the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,754,752 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $314,620,000 after acquiring an additional 238,964 shares during the last quarter. 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.