Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Short Interest Update

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,560,000 shares, a decline of 20.0% from the December 31st total of 3,200,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 759,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Currently, 4.7% of the company's stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Lear from $106.00 to $99.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.18.

Institutional Trading of Lear

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Lear by 7.3% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,714,653 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $842,054,000 after purchasing an additional 526,763 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its position in Lear by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,842,247 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $174,461,000 after buying an additional 22,601 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Lear by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,713,661 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $187,046,000 after acquiring an additional 206,822 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Lear by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,264,090 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $137,975,000 after acquiring an additional 247,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lear by 4.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,141,476 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $124,621,000 after acquiring an additional 44,128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEA traded up $2.39 during trading on Thursday, hitting $97.97. 154,810 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 586,405. The company has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.33. Lear has a 1-year low of $90.03 and a 1-year high of $147.11. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $96.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.21.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. Lear's payout ratio is 32.39%.

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.