Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $132.18.

LEA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Lear from $106.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of Lear stock opened at $93.48 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.42. Lear has a 12 month low of $86.28 and a 12 month high of $147.11. 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Lear by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 427 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lear by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 9,957 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $943,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Lear by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,105 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lear by 68.2% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Lear by 71.6% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 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.