Lear (NYSE:LEA) Lowered to “Neutral” Rating by Bank of America

Bank of America downgraded shares of Lear (NYSE:LEA) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $123.00 price target on the auto parts company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $135.00.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on LEA. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $116.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Lear from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Lear from $102.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lear from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.70.

Lear Price Performance

NYSE:LEA opened at $105.68 on Wednesday. Lear has a one year low of $73.85 and a one year high of $115.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $104.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.89.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.24. Lear had a net margin of 2.05% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The company had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Lear has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts expect that Lear will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is 35.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.47, for a total transaction of $492,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 20,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,993,426.68. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.77, for a total transaction of $483,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 38,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,747,805.33. This trade represents a 11.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,187 shares of company stock worth $1,086,425 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Lear by 1,384.2% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. WealthCollab LLC acquired a new stake in Lear in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Lear in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Lear by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 454 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lear in the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.