Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $134.18.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Lear from $106.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays lowered shares of Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

Institutional Trading of Lear

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEA. Barclays PLC raised 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 valued at $14,742,000 after purchasing an additional 12,094 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in Lear during the second quarter valued at about $530,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lear in the third quarter worth about $1,946,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 144,282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $15,748,000 after acquiring an additional 9,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Lear by 36.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,871,346 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $213,726,000 after acquiring an additional 504,091 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA opened at $93.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $96.90 and its 200-day moving average is $106.80. Lear has a 12-month low of $91.20 and a 12-month high of $147.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.45.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 2.33%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.87 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lear will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.39%.

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.