Advisors Asset Management Inc. Grows Stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 44.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,570 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,396 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Lear were worth $499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Lear in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lear by 70.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 266 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Lear by 240.4% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 303 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 71.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lear in the third quarter worth about $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LEA shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Lear from $114.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $132.00 price target on shares of Lear in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.25.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of LEA opened at $97.25 on Thursday. Lear Co. has a fifty-two week low of $92.14 and a fifty-two week high of $147.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $102.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.46.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.32. Lear had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.87 earnings per share. Lear’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. Lear’s payout ratio 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.