Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 0.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,913,449 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,443 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Lear worth $835,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEA. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lear by 33.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,158 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lear by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,540 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after acquiring an additional 588 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Lear during the 3rd quarter valued at $279,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lear by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,567 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $13,093,000 after acquiring an additional 16,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in Lear by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,896,871 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $254,560,000 after acquiring an additional 287,483 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lear

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

Lear Stock Up 1.4 %

LEA stock opened at $116.23 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Lear Co. has a fifty-two week low of $113.14 and a fifty-two week high of $157.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.72. The stock has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.51.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LEA. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Lear from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.78.

Lear Profile

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.