Lear (NYSE:LEA) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $92.14 and last traded at $92.50, with a volume of 235141 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $93.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays cut shares of Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Lear from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $132.00 price objective on shares of Lear in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Lear from $106.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.67.

Lear Trading Up 1.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company’s 50-day moving average is $99.13 and its 200 day moving average is $108.91. The company has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.45.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion during 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%. Lear’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.87 EPS. Research analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,049 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $14,742,000 after purchasing an additional 12,094 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lear during the second quarter valued at about $530,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lear in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,946,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in shares of Lear by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 144,282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $15,748,000 after purchasing an additional 9,774 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Lear by 36.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,871,346 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $213,726,000 after purchasing an additional 504,091 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.