Lear Co. (LEA) To Go Ex-Dividend on December 11th

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 21st,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.77 per share by the auto parts company on Monday, December 30th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th.

Lear has raised its dividend payment by an average of 44.5% annually over the last three years. Lear has a payout ratio of 22.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Lear to earn $13.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.6%.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LEA opened at $97.89 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.78. The stock has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Lear has a fifty-two week low of $92.14 and a fifty-two week high of $147.11.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.32. Lear had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 2.33%. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.87 earnings per share. Lear’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Lear will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays cut Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Lear in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. TD Cowen cut their target price on Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lear has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.25.

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.