Lear (NYSE:LEA) Reaches New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $97.42 and last traded at $97.42, with a volume of 250589 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $99.58.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LEA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Lear from $114.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Lear from $136.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Lear in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.08.

Lear Stock Up 1.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $107.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $116.67.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 2.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.87 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Lear during the 1st quarter worth $1,984,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Lear by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 307,383 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $44,534,000 after buying an additional 5,584 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in Lear by 35.2% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 54,995 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $7,953,000 after buying an additional 14,305 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in Lear in the 2nd quarter valued at about $530,000. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in Lear by 73.6% in the 1st quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 11,754 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,703,000 after buying an additional 4,984 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

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.