Brokerages Set Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Price Target at $149.20

Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $147.91.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Lear from $179.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Lear from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Lear from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Lear from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th.

Lear Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of LEA stock opened at $106.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $112.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.12. Lear has a twelve month low of $101.67 and a twelve month high of $147.11.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.30% and a return on equity of 14.75%. Lear’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Lear will post 12.66 EPS for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LEA. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Lear by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,187,890 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $820,929,000 after acquiring an additional 946,109 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Lear by 1.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,023,195 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $872,640,000 after purchasing an additional 109,746 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lear by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,754,752 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $314,620,000 after purchasing an additional 238,964 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Lear by 36.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,871,346 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $213,726,000 after purchasing an additional 504,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Lear by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,816,880 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $207,506,000 after buying an additional 17,820 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.