Analysts Set Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) PT at $127.00

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $127.00.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LEA. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lear

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new stake in shares of Lear during the 4th quarter valued at $90,700,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Lear by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,714,653 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $842,054,000 after buying an additional 526,763 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Lear by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,212,579 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $209,531,000 after buying an additional 498,918 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,491,895 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $614,782,000 after buying an additional 447,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 45.9% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,133,186 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $107,313,000 after buying an additional 356,760 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lear Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:LEA opened at $97.19 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $95.05 and its 200 day moving average is $101.19. Lear has a 12-month low of $86.28 and a 12-month high of $147.11. The stock has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lear will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. Lear’s payout ratio is 34.45%.

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.