Van ECK Associates Corp Has $1.97 Million Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 41.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,264 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 12,090 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Lear were worth $1,972,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Lear in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Lear in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Lear in the 1st quarter valued at $62,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Lear during the 4th quarter worth $75,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 72.1% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 654 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE LEA opened at $110.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $107.25 and a twelve month high of $147.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.07.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.02 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 2.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect 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 given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on LEA shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $141.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Lear in a report on Thursday. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on Lear from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Lear from $132.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Lear from $136.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lear presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $153.56.

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.