Lear Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.77 (NYSE:LEA)

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 14th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of 0.77 per share by the auto parts company on Wednesday, March 26th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%.

Lear has raised its dividend by an average of 20.3% per year over the last three years. Lear has a payout ratio of 20.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Lear to earn $15.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.3%.

Lear Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of LEA stock traded up $1.87 on Tuesday, hitting $98.24. The stock had a trading volume of 90,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 695,120. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company's 50 day moving average price is $95.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.76. Lear has a 1 year low of $86.28 and a 1 year high of $147.11.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. Analysts anticipate that Lear will post 13.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LEA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lear currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $127.00.

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.