Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.77

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 16th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.77 per share by the auto parts company on Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th.

Lear has raised its dividend by an average of 44.5% annually over the last three years. Lear has a payout ratio of 19.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Lear to earn $16.81 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.3%.

Lear Price Performance

NYSE LEA traded up $1.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $112.77. The stock had a trading volume of 491,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 656,266. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $116.35 and its 200 day moving average is $128.31. Lear has a twelve month low of $107.25 and a twelve month high of $147.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.47.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.26. Lear had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 2.30%. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Lear will post 13.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LEA shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Lear from $141.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Lear from $179.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Lear from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Lear from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Four research 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $153.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $159,174.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $159,174.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.86, for a total value of $296,273.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.