Lear Corporation(NYSE: LEA) stock enhanced over 3% on Jan 26th, 2018 (As of 1:14PM EST; Source: Google finance) leading to a rise of over 31% in the last six months while delivered 11.7% returns in this year to date.
For the Fourth Quarter of 2017, the delivered a record sale rose 16% yoy to $5.4 billion, while core operating earnings surged 14% yoy to $441 million. For Full Year 2017, the delivered a solid sales rise of 10% yoy to $20.5 billion. Core operating earnings enhanced 12% yoy to $1,719 million, with a record margin of 8.4%, against 8.3% a year ago
The group finished the acquisition and integration of Grupo Antolin’s seating business, to boost their market share with key European customers and expanding their seat component capabilities. In E-Systems, the group signed an agreement to acquire EXO Technologies, a leading developer of differentiated GPS technology to support autonomous and connected vehicle applications.
For 2018, the vehicle production is expected to be 17.4 million units in North America, up 2%, 23.4 million units in Europe and Africa, up 2%, and 26.5 million units in China, up 1%. Sales is forecasted to be in the range of $21.4 to $21.6 billion, while core operating earnings would be in the range of $1,750 million to $1,775 million.
The group’s consolidated three-year backlog is $3.2 billion wherein E-Systems represents 41% of the backlog, indicating rising market share coupled with growth aligned with emerging industry trends, especially vehicle electrification and connectivity. Moreover consolidated backlog has $700 million in backlog at non-consolidated joint ventures, primarily in China.
The group delivered a total return to shareholders of 35%. Since the last five years, the group generated a total return of over 300% to shareholders, almost three times the return of the S&P 500. The group believes that the unique product capabilities and industry-leading cost structure would enable them to continue to deliver profitable sales growth and consequently deliver a superior value to their customers and shareholders.
LEA stock is trading at a P/E of 12x and has a 1% dividend yield.