Lear (NYSE:LEA) Stock Price Down 8% – Time to Sell?

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.36.

Lear Stock Down 8.4 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.58. The stock has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is 34.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Lear news, Director Rod Lache bought 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 purchase, the director now owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at $199,940.40. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RWC Asset Management LLP raised its position in shares of Lear by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 410,908 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $38,913,000 after acquiring an additional 77,691 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Lear by 5.9% in the fourth 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 boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 12,094 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Lear by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 39,465 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,759,000 after acquiring an additional 5,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Lear by 17.1% during the 4th 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 during the period. Institutional investors 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.