Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Receives $145.09 Average PT from Brokerages

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $145.09.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LEA shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Lear in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on Lear from $141.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com raised Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $132.00 target price on shares of Lear in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $136.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lear

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Grimes & Company Inc. bought a new position in Lear in the first quarter worth about $5,847,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Lear during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,984,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Lear by 1.9% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 307,383 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $44,534,000 after acquiring an additional 5,584 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its holdings in Lear by 196.7% in the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 319,156 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $46,239,000 after purchasing an additional 211,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in shares of Lear by 35.2% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 54,995 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $7,953,000 after purchasing an additional 14,305 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of Lear stock opened at $98.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $109.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.20. Lear has a one year low of $97.51 and a one year high of $147.11. The stock has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.26. Lear had a net margin of 2.30% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. Lear’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Lear will post 12.49 EPS for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.59%.

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.