Short Interest in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Expands By 15.0%

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) saw a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,830,000 shares, an increase of 15.0% from the March 15th total of 2,460,000 shares. Approximately 5.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 531,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEA traded down $0.41 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $131.93. The company had a trading volume of 437,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 531,147. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $139.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.87. Lear has a fifty-two week low of $117.79 and a fifty-two week high of $157.90.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.12 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lear will post 14.55 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s payout ratio is currently 31.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total value of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LEA. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Lear by 4.0% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,192 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,454,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Lear during the first quarter worth $657,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Lear by 81.0% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 19,834 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 8,878 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in Lear by 47.8% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 1,948 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC boosted its position in Lear by 62.8% during the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 39,256 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,598,000 after purchasing an additional 15,137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Lear from $195.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.44.

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.