MML Investors Services LLC Raises Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 49.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,207 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Lear were worth $350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEA. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lear during the second quarter worth $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lear by 70.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 266 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Lear by 240.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 303 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Lear in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Lear by 71.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on LEA shares. Barclays downgraded shares of Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $140.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.67.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA stock opened at $95.18 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $98.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.08. The company has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.45. Lear Co. has a 52 week low of $91.70 and a 52 week high of $147.11.

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

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.39%.

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.