Lear (NYSE:LEA) Board Declares Share Buyback Plan

Lear (NYSE:LEA) declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, September 24th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the auto parts company to repurchase up to 25.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 target price (down from $175.00) on shares of Lear in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lear from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Lear in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Lear from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lear currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.33.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA traded up $4.58 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $122.83. 622,503 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 644,063. Lear has a 1-year low of $96.04 and a 1-year high of $150.33. The stock has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $128.52 and its 200 day moving average is $130.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.31.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The auto parts company reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.98 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.15 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.18% and a net margin of 2.35%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.06 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lear will post 14.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.70%.

Insider Activity at Lear

In other news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,646 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.35, for a total transaction of $199,742.10. Following the sale, the director directly owned 37 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,489.95. The trade was a 97.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Lear Company Profile

Lear Corporation is a global automotive technology company that designs and manufactures systems and components used in passenger vehicles. Its business is organized primarily around two areas: seating and E-Systems. Lear supplies complete vehicle seating systems, including seats, structures, mechanisms, foam, covers and related components, as well as electrical distribution systems and other technologies that help manage power, data and connectivity within vehicles.

The company’s E-Systems offerings include low- and high-voltage wiring systems, connection systems, battery and power-management solutions, electronic control modules, displays and software-enabled technologies.