Squarepoint Ops LLC Acquires 9,786 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,778 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,786 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Lear were worth $6,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Lear by 11,753.3% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,016,778 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $116,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,200 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lear by 15.2% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,187,890 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $820,929,000 after buying an additional 946,109 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Lear by 36.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,871,346 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $213,726,000 after buying an additional 504,091 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Lear by 970.4% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 540,850 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $76,373,000 after acquiring an additional 490,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Lear by 9.5% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,754,752 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $314,620,000 after acquiring an additional 238,964 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Price Performance

NYSE:LEA opened at $112.72 on Monday. Lear Co. has a 52 week low of $101.67 and a 52 week high of $147.11. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $112.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.67. The firm has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.45.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.02 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.30% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LEA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $132.00 target price on shares of Lear in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Lear from $136.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Lear from $179.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.20.

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.