Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA), might not be a large cap stock, but it led the NYSE gainers with a relatively large price hike in the past couple of weeks. While good news for shareholders, the company has traded much higher in the past year. With many analysts covering the mid-cap stock, we may expect any price-sensitive announcements have already been factored into the stock’s share price. But what if there is still an opportunity to buy? Today we will analyse the most recent data on Lear’s outlook and valuation to see if the opportunity still exists.
Is Lear Still Cheap?
Good news, investors! Lear is still a bargain right now according to our price multiple model, which compares the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. We’ve used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there’s not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock’s ratio of 10.56x is currently well-below the industry average of 13.86x, meaning that it is trading at a cheaper price relative to its peers. What’s more interesting is that, Lear’s share price is quite volatile, which gives us more chances to buy since the share price could sink lower (or rise higher) in the future. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.
View our latest analysis for Lear
What does the future of Lear look like?
Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let’s also take a look at the company's future expectations. Lear's earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 65%, indicating a highly optimistic future ahead. This should lead to more robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.
What This Means For You
Are you a shareholder? Since LEA is currently trading below the industry PE ratio, it may be a great time to accumulate more of your holdings in the stock. With an optimistic profit outlook on the horizon, it seems like this growth has not yet been fully factored into the share price. However, there are also other factors such as capital structure to consider, which could explain the current price multiple.
Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on LEA for a while, now might be the time to make a leap. Its buoyant future profit outlook isn’t fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means it’s not too late to buy LEA. But before you make any investment decisions, consider other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to make a well-informed assessment.
With this in mind, we wouldn't consider investing in a stock unless we had a thorough understanding of the risks. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Lear you should know about.
If you are no longer interested in Lear, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.