Lear (NYSE:LEA) Trading Down 8% – Should You Sell?

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) fell 8% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $88.69 and last traded at $89.63. 227,422 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 695,700 shares. The stock had previously closed at $97.41.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LEA. Barclays lowered their price objective on Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Cowen cut shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lear currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.36.

Lear Trading Down 1.7 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $95.39 and a 200 day moving average of $98.36. The firm has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Lear’s payout ratio is currently 34.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,940.40. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LEA. RWC Asset Management LLP boosted its position in Lear by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 410,908 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $38,913,000 after purchasing an additional 77,691 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,216 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $873,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in 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. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Lear by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 39,465 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,759,000 after acquiring an additional 5,711 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Lear by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 676,977 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $64,110,000 after acquiring an additional 99,072 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.