Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Announces $0.77 Quarterly Dividend

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 14th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of 0.77 per share by the auto parts company on Wednesday, March 26th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th.

Lear has increased its dividend payment by an average of 20.3% per year over the last three years. Lear has a payout ratio of 20.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Lear to earn $14.97 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 20.6%.

Lear Price Performance

NYSE:LEA opened at $91.51 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $95.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.42. Lear has a 12-month low of $86.28 and a 12-month high of $147.11.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. On average, analysts anticipate that Lear will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LEA shares. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.09.

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.