Analysts Set Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Price Target at $145.09

Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $145.09.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LEA shares. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Lear from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Lear from $131.00 to $114.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Lear Trading Down 6.5 %

Shares of NYSE:LEA opened at $98.17 on Tuesday. Lear has a 52-week low of $97.51 and a 52-week high of $147.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.20.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.26. Lear had a net margin of 2.30% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Lear will post 12.49 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Lear’s payout ratio is currently 33.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lear

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEA. 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 worth $820,929,000 after acquiring an additional 946,109 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Lear by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,023,195 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $872,640,000 after purchasing an additional 109,746 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Lear by 9.5% during the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,754,752 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $314,620,000 after purchasing an additional 238,964 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Lear by 36.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,871,346 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $213,726,000 after buying an additional 504,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,816,880 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $207,506,000 after buying an additional 17,820 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.