Lear (NYSE:LEA) Reaches New 1-Year Low - Should You Sell?

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $95.59 and last traded at $96.07, with a volume of 10113 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $96.29.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on LEA. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $136.00 to $128.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $141.08.

Lear Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.46. 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $106.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.97.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.52 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Lear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEA. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Lear in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Lear in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lear by 70.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 266 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Lear by 240.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 303 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Lear by 71.6% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 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.