Lear (NYSE:LEA) Hits New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $91.70 and last traded at $91.73, with a volume of 16639 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $92.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LEA. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Lear from $106.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America cut their target price on Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com raised Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $132.00 price target on shares of Lear in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lear currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.18.

Lear Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.80. The stock has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.79, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.45.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.32. Lear had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.87 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LEA. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lear by 11,753.3% in the second 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 last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Lear by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,714,653 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $842,054,000 after buying an additional 526,763 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in 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 valued at $213,726,000 after acquiring an additional 504,091 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Lear by 115.4% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 561,100 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $64,083,000 after acquiring an additional 300,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $314,620,000 after acquiring an additional 238,964 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.