Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Stock Position Trimmed by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC lessened its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 93.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,510 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 59,564 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Lear were worth $492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Lear during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lear by 70.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 266 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Lear by 240.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 303 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 71.6% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Lear during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $72,000. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on LEA. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Lear from $114.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.25.

Lear Price Performance

Lear stock opened at $97.89 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.46. Lear Co. has a 12 month low of $92.14 and a 12 month high of $147.11. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.56.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Lear’s payout ratio is currently 32.39%.

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.