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

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $112.00.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Cowen lowered Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 target price on Lear and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lear from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LEA opened at $94.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.99. Lear has a 52 week low of $73.85 and a 52 week high of $133.20.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.18 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s payout ratio is presently 36.11%.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other news, Director Rod Lache acquired 2,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,940.40. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lear

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lear during the 1st quarter worth approximately $737,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new position in shares of Lear during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,879,000. Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of Lear by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 40,086 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,536,000 after buying an additional 3,575 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Lear during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,463,000. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lear by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 540,411 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $47,675,000 after buying an additional 149,644 shares during the period. 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.