Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Acquired by Verity Asset Management Inc.

Verity Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,384 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Lear were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $820,929,000 after purchasing an additional 946,109 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,023,195 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $872,640,000 after acquiring an additional 109,746 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,754,752 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $314,620,000 after acquiring an additional 238,964 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 504,091 shares during the period. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,816,880 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $207,506,000 after acquiring an additional 17,820 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA opened at $96.31 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $105.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.19. Lear Co. has a 12-month low of $94.29 and a 12-month high of $147.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.32. Lear had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 2.33%. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.87 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.15 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Lear’s payout ratio is 32.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LEA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $132.00 price objective on shares of Lear in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $141.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.08.

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.