Pzena Investment Management LLC Has $727.21 Million Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Pzena Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,679,092 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 35,561 shares during the quarter. Lear comprises about 2.5% of Pzena Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned about 0.14% of Lear worth $727,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,842,247 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $174,461,000 after buying an additional 22,601 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,713,661 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $187,046,000 after buying an additional 206,822 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,264,090 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $137,975,000 after buying an additional 247,312 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,141,476 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $124,621,000 after buying an additional 44,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 715,788 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $78,128,000 after buying an additional 46,303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cowen cut shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen lowered shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.36.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,940.40. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Lear Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Lear stock opened at $99.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $95.08 and its 200 day moving average is $100.12. Lear Co. has a 1 year low of $86.28 and a 1 year high of $147.11.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. Equities research analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.45%.

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.