Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Sold by Lecap Asset Management Ltd.

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. decreased its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 37.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,648 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 4,506 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Lear were worth $835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEA. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Lear by 11,753.3% in 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 buying an additional 1,008,200 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in 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% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,871,346 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $213,726,000 after buying an additional 504,091 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Lear by 115.4% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 561,100 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $64,083,000 after buying an additional 300,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 238,964 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE LEA opened at $104.96 on Thursday. Lear Co. has a 12-month low of $101.67 and a 12-month high of $147.11. The stock has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average of $109.67 and a 200 day moving average of $118.30.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 2.30% and a return on equity of 14.75%. Lear’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Lear’s payout ratio is 33.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LEA shares. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Lear in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Lear from $131.00 to $114.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.09.

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.