Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,491,895 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 447,835 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.95% of Lear worth $614,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Lear by 243.5% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 18,754 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 13,295 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Lear in the 4th quarter valued at $1,392,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Lear by 82.3% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 45,927 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after acquiring an additional 20,733 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Lear by 310.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 345,580 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $32,726,000 after acquiring an additional 261,390 shares during the period. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Lear in the 4th quarter valued at about $118,000. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEA has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.36.

Lear Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Lear stock opened at $87.82 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.27. The stock has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. Lear Co. has a 12-month low of $86.28 and a 12-month high of $145.35.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rod Lache acquired 2,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,940.40. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Lear

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.