Lear (NYSE:LEA) Earns “Neutral” Rating from The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group reissued their neutral rating on shares of Lear (NYSE:LEA) in a research report report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a $84.00 price target on the auto parts company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $117.00.

LEA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.00.

Lear Stock Performance

Lear stock opened at $77.42 on Thursday. Lear has a 52 week low of $73.85 and a 52 week high of $138.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $92.09 and a 200-day moving average of $96.25.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. On average, analysts expect that Lear will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s payout ratio is 34.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rod Lache acquired 2,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at $199,940.40. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lear

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LEA. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lear by 187.0% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lear by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Lear by 233.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 410 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 427 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Lear by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 491 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.