JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Lear (NYSE:LEA) Stock

Lear (NYSE:LEA) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $119.00 to $133.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the auto parts company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 31.77% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lear from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lear in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America cut shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $123.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $113.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Lear from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.00.

Lear Price Performance

LEA opened at $100.93 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $104.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.32. Lear has a 52 week low of $73.85 and a 52 week high of $113.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.34.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 20,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,993,426.68. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.77, for a total transaction of $483,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 38,729 shares in the company, valued at $3,747,805.33. This represents a 11.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 75.6% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,801,284 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $171,086,000 after acquiring an additional 775,476 shares in the last quarter. Oldfield Partners LLP acquired a new position in Lear during the first quarter valued at approximately $53,799,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Lear by 78.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,269,500 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $120,577,000 after purchasing an additional 558,538 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lear in the second quarter valued at $48,468,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lear by 483.4% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 567,335 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $49,625,000 after purchasing an additional 470,096 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.