Analysts Set Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Price Target at $153.56

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $153.56.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on LEA shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Lear from $141.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Lear from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Lear in a research report on Thursday. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Lear from $132.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LEA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lear during the 4th quarter worth about $79,611,000. Grimes & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lear during the first quarter worth about $5,847,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC boosted its position in Lear by 56.2% in the fourth quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 20,129 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after buying an additional 7,242 shares during the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its holdings in Lear by 307.9% in the 1st quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 12,869 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,864,000 after buying an additional 9,714 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Lear during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,984,000. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of LEA stock opened at $110.30 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $115.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.34. Lear has a 52-week low of $107.25 and a 52-week high of $147.11.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.30% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lear will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.59%.

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.