Lear (NYSE:LEA) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $95.59 and last traded at $96.07, with a volume of 10113 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $96.29.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $132.00 price target on shares of Lear in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Lear in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $114.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Lear from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Lear from $141.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.08.

Lear Trading Up 0.9 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

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

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,101 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Lear by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 3,842 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Lear by 97.0% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 42,533 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $6,162,000 after purchasing an additional 20,946 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Lear by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 7,197 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,828 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.