Magnetar Financial LLC Takes Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 25,712 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,937,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LEA. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lear by 11,753.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,016,778 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $116,126,000 after buying an additional 1,008,200 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 15.2% in the 2nd 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. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lear in the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,611,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 36.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 504,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Lear by 970.4% during 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 buying an additional 490,324 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America cut their price target on Lear from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup cut their price target on Lear from $141.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Lear from $179.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Lear from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.70.

Lear Stock Performance

Lear stock opened at $108.60 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $113.71 and its 200-day moving average is $123.55. The company has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Lear Co. has a 12 month low of $101.67 and a 12 month high of $147.11.

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

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Lear’s payout ratio is currently 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.