Lear (NYSE:LEA) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Lear (NYSE:LEA) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lear from $137.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $131.00 price target on Lear in a report on Monday, August 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Lear from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Lear from $143.00 to $139.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.58.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE LEA opened at $116.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Lear has a 52-week low of $99.00 and a 52-week high of $150.33. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $122.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.50. The firm has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.29.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The auto parts company reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.98 by $0.30. Lear had a return on equity of 14.18% and a net margin of 2.35%. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lear will post 14.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 24th that allows the company to buy back $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the auto parts company to repurchase up to 25.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,646 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.35, for a total transaction of $199,742.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 37 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,489.95. This represents a 97.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lear

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Lear in the second quarter worth $65,397,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor acquired a new stake in Lear in the second quarter valued at $17,423,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Lear by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,943,480 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $356,380,000 after purchasing an additional 107,678 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Lear during the 3rd quarter worth $11,911,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its position in shares of Lear by 145.6% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 126,588 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $16,970,000 after purchasing an additional 75,043 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Lear News

Here are the key news stories impacting Lear this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Wall Street Zen downgraded Lear to “Hold.” The revised rating signals a more cautious view of the stock’s near-term risk/reward profile and is the clearest company-specific development in the supplied news. Lear’s shares remain below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which may reinforce investor caution. Lear Stock Dropped to Hold by Wall Street Zen
• Neutral Sentiment: No new earnings, guidance, contract, production, or restructuring announcement involving Lear Corporation (LEA) was included. The company’s most recently provided results were comparatively supportive, with quarterly EPS and revenue exceeding analyst expectations, but the rating change suggests some analysts believe the upside is now more limited.
• Neutral Sentiment: The remaining articles discuss personal finance, Bitcoin regulation, Anthropic’s IPO, taxes, housing, macroeconomic risks, and unrelated companies. They do not appear to provide a direct catalyst for Lear’s stock today.

Lear Company Profile

Lear Corporation is a global automotive technology company that designs and manufactures products used in passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles. Its operations are organized primarily around two areas: seating and e-systems. Lear supplies complete vehicle seating systems, including seats, structures, mechanisms, foam, covers and related components, as well as electrical distribution systems and other technologies that support vehicle power management and connectivity.

The company serves automotive manufacturers and their vehicle programs in major markets across North America, Europe, Asia and other regions.