Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Acquired by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 9.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 135,049 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,094 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Lear were worth $14,742,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEA. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Lear by 151.9% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,049 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 3,648 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Lear during the 2nd quarter worth $663,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lear during the 2nd quarter worth about $222,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lear in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,388,000. Finally, Perennial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Perennial Advisors LLC now owns 32,912 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,759,000 after buying an additional 2,746 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lear Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:LEA opened at $98.35 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a PE ratio of 10.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.45. Lear Co. has a 52-week low of $92.14 and a 52-week high of $147.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $100.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Lear’s payout ratio is 32.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays cut shares of Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $132.00 target price on shares of Lear in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.25.

Lear Company 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.