Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 58,857 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130,226 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 58,857 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.24% of Lear worth $14,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LEA. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted 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 last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Lear by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,023,195 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $872,640,000 after purchasing an additional 109,746 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Lear by 9.5% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,754,752 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $314,620,000 after buying an additional 238,964 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Lear by 36.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,871,346 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $213,726,000 after buying an additional 504,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 1.0% during the second quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,816,880 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $207,506,000 after buying an additional 17,820 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE:LEA opened at $95.61 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.46. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $94.29 and a twelve month high of $147.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $103.66 and a 200-day moving average of $113.78. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.87 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.22 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LEA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Lear in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Barclays cut Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $132.00 price target on shares of Lear in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.25.

About Lear

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.