Lear (NYSE:LEA) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $91.14 and last traded at $91.62, with a volume of 16600 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.81.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have 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 for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Lear from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Lear from $106.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays cut Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $140.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lear presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.18.

Lear Trading Down 2.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a PE ratio of 9.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $96.51 and its 200-day moving average is $106.27.

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

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Lear by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,049 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $14,742,000 after buying an additional 12,094 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Lear during the second quarter worth about $530,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lear in the third quarter worth about $1,946,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Lear by 7.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 144,282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $15,748,000 after purchasing an additional 9,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in 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 valued at $213,726,000 after purchasing an additional 504,091 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.