Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

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

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Lear during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 70.5% during 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 last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Lear by 240.4% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 303 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Lear during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Lear by 71.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on LEA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $132.00 target price on shares of Lear in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Lear from $106.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Lear from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.67.

Lear Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE LEA opened at $95.36 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $97.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.63. 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 company has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.45. Lear Co. has a one year low of $91.70 and a one year high of $147.11.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.32. Lear had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given 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 3.23%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.39%.

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.