Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA) Stock Holdings Boosted by Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 9.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 617,624 shares of the auto parts company's stock after acquiring an additional 53,694 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 1.15% of Lear worth $54,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Lear during the first quarter worth approximately $863,000. Oak Thistle LLC increased its position in Lear by 1,107.7% in the 1st quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 28,031 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $2,473,000 after acquiring an additional 25,710 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in shares of Lear by 49.4% during the first quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 36,738 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $3,241,000 after purchasing an additional 12,144 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Lear during the 1st quarter worth $2,431,000. Finally, Hardy Reed LLC acquired a new stake in Lear in the first quarter valued at about $1,059,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,187 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total transaction of $110,224.82. Following the transaction, the director owned 84 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,800.24. This trade represents a 93.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on LEA shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Lear from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America upped their target price on Lear from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $116.00 target price (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Lear in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Lear from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $113.64.

Lear Stock Down 0.4%

LEA traded down $0.46 on Thursday, reaching $108.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,012,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 620,364. Lear Corporation has a 1 year low of $73.85 and a 1 year high of $125.09. The business's 50 day moving average is $96.54 and its 200 day moving average is $92.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.29.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The business's revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.18 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lear Corporation will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. Lear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.11%.

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.