Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Director Purchases $199,940.40 in Stock

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,940.40. The trade was a ? increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Lear Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE LEA opened at $98.99 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.22. The firm has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $86.28 and a twelve month high of $147.11.

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

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s payout ratio is 34.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LEA. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Lear by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 6,533 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Lear by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,385 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 2,207 shares in the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lear by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,384 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Lear by 73.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 8,701 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $950,000 after acquiring an additional 3,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in Lear by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,775 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on LEA. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.36.

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.