Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $112.00.

Several research firms recently weighed in on LEA. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Lear from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Lear from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Cowen lowered shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 price target on shares of Lear and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Insider Activity at Lear

In related news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,940.40. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lear

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Lear by 187.0% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Lear by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Lear by 233.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 410 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Lear during the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in Lear by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 427 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Stock Up 1.0%

LEA stock opened at $94.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Lear has a 52-week low of $73.85 and a 52-week high of $131.18. The company has a 50-day moving average of $87.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.48. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lear will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.11%.

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.