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

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) shares hit 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Lear from $114.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Lear in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lear currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.08.

Lear Price Performance

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

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 2.33%. Lear’s revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Lear

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 11,753.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,016,778 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $116,126,000 after buying an additional 1,008,200 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,187,890 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $820,929,000 after buying an additional 946,109 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 36.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,871,346 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $213,726,000 after buying an additional 504,091 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Lear by 115.4% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 561,100 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $64,083,000 after purchasing an additional 300,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lear by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,754,752 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $314,620,000 after purchasing an additional 238,964 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

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.