Boston Partners Acquires 41,496 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 4.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,023,165 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,496 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned about 1.80% of Lear worth $148,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LEA. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 88,489 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $12,495,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 755 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 18,293 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lear during the 4th quarter valued at $215,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Lear in the 4th quarter worth $1,356,000. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $159,174.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $159,174.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.86, for a total transaction of $296,273.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on LEA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lear from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $160.00 in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Lear from $136.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.67.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of Lear stock traded down $6.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $113.69. 701,085 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 720,249. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $118.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $129.66. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $112.26 and a twelve month high of $156.54. The company has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.40, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.47.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.26. Lear had a net margin of 2.30% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 13.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. 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.