Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $112.09.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 19th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Lear in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $123.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Lear from an “equal weight” rating to a “negative” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 68.2% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lear in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 491 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lear in the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 131.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 765 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Stock Up 1.3%

Lear stock opened at $88.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $86.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.23. Lear has a 52 week low of $73.85 and a 52 week high of $126.85.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. The business’s revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.18 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Lear will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.11%.

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.