MQS Management LLC Takes Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,187 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $478,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 15.2% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,187,890 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $820,929,000 after acquiring an additional 946,109 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lear during the 4th quarter worth about $79,611,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Lear by 36.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,871,346 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $213,726,000 after purchasing an additional 504,091 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Lear by 970.4% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 540,850 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $76,373,000 after purchasing an additional 490,324 shares during the period. Finally, Lyrical Asset Management LP grew its holdings in Lear by 55.4% during the 4th quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,067,888 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $150,796,000 after buying an additional 380,771 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LEA shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Lear in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $132.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $179.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Lear from $136.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.40.

Lear Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:LEA opened at $109.97 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $114.28 and a 200 day moving average of $124.32. Lear Co. has a 52-week low of $101.67 and a 52-week high of $147.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.45.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.02 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 2.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.59%.

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.