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

Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $127.00.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LEA shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

Lear Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:LEA opened at $96.43 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Lear has a 52-week low of $86.28 and a 52-week high of $147.11. The company has a 50 day moving average of $94.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.39. The company has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.42.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. As a group, analysts forecast that Lear will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s payout ratio is presently 34.45%.

Institutional Trading of Lear

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lear by 187.0% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Lear by 240.4% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 303 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Lear in the third quarter worth $34,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Lear by 71.6% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lear by 68.2% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 137 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.