Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Hold" by the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to 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.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LEA. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th.

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Lear Price Performance

LEA stock traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $96.43. The company had a trading volume of 401,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 665,527. Lear has a 1-year low of $86.28 and a 1-year high of $147.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $95.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.02. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. Equities research analysts expect that Lear will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Lear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew 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. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Lear in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lear by 240.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 303 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Lear by 71.6% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

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.