Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $132.18.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LEA shares. Barclays cut their price target on Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Lear from $106.00 to $99.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th.

Lear Stock Performance

Lear stock traded up $1.22 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $96.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 580,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 609,271. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.43. Lear has a 1-year low of $90.03 and a 1-year high of $147.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $96.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.21.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. Lear's payout ratio is 32.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lear

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Lear by 187.0% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Lear during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Lear by 240.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 303 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Lear by 71.6% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 233.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 410 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.