Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Holdings Cut by Janus Henderson Group PLC

Janus Henderson Group PLC decreased its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 11.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,879 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 3,022 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Lear were worth $2,604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEA. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Lear by 151.9% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,049 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $691,000 after buying an additional 3,648 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 101,138 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $11,551,000 after purchasing an additional 7,556 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Lear during the 2nd quarter valued at $663,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lear during the 2nd quarter valued at $222,000. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Lear during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,388,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE LEA opened at $101.82 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $100.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.00. Lear Co. has a 52-week low of $92.14 and a 52-week high of $147.11.

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

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on LEA shares. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Lear from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays downgraded shares of Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $140.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $132.00 target price on shares of Lear in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Lear in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.25.

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.