Lear (NYSE:LEA) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on LEA shares. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Lear in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays lowered Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.67.

Lear Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.81, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $99.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.02.

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

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is 32.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lear

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LEA. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lear in the second quarter worth $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Lear by 70.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 266 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Lear in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Lear by 240.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 303 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 71.6% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently 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.