Lear Corporation $LEA Shares Sold by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA) by 45.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,642 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 8,121 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Lear were worth $909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Lear by 1,384.2% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lear in the first quarter worth $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Lear by 57.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 938 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in Lear by 2,682.9% during the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 974 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its position in shares of Lear by 955.2% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,108 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LEA shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Barclays increased their price target on Lear from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lear in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $104.00 price target on Lear in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Lear in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.00.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE:LEA opened at $101.68 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 11.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Lear Corporation has a twelve month low of $73.85 and a twelve month high of $113.10.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.89 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 2.05%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Lear Corporation will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Lear’s payout ratio is currently 35.94%.

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.