Lear (NYSE:LEA) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Lear (NYSE:LEA) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Lear from $114.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $132.00 price target on shares of Lear in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays cut Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.25.

Lear Trading Down 2.6 %

LEA opened at $92.95 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 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 $92.86 and a 12 month high of $147.11.

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. Lear had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 2.33%. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.87 earnings per share. Lear’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lear will post 12.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lear

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEA. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Lear by 63.5% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,426 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Lear in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,886,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,141,476 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $124,621,000 after acquiring an additional 44,128 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Lear by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,049 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $14,742,000 after acquiring an additional 12,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Lear by 8.7% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 69,068 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $7,539,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.