Kendall Capital Management Grows Stock Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Kendall Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 81.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,736 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares during the period. Kendall Capital Management’s holdings in Lear were worth $769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LEA. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lear by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,187,890 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $820,929,000 after purchasing an additional 946,109 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lear during the 4th quarter worth about $79,611,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Lear by 36.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,871,346 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $213,726,000 after acquiring an additional 504,091 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Lear by 970.4% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 540,850 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $76,373,000 after purchasing an additional 490,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lyrical Asset Management LP raised its holdings in Lear by 55.4% in the 4th quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,067,888 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $150,796,000 after purchasing an additional 380,771 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on LEA. Bank of America cut their price objective on Lear from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Lear in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Lear from $179.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.40.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of Lear stock opened at $107.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.34. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $114.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.44. The company has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.45. Lear Co. has a one year low of $101.67 and a one year high of $147.11.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.26. Lear had a net margin of 2.30% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.59%.

Lear Company 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.