Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 45.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,133,186 shares of the auto parts company's stock after acquiring an additional 356,760 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 2.09% of Lear worth $107,313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,491,895 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $614,782,000 after buying an additional 447,835 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,212,579 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $209,531,000 after buying an additional 498,918 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Lear by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,842,247 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $174,461,000 after buying an additional 22,601 shares during the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP grew its stake in shares of Lear by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,056,694 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $100,069,000 after acquiring an additional 29,370 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of Lear in the fourth quarter worth $90,700,000. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE LEA traded down $0.82 on Friday, hitting $84.57. 479,217 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 745,607. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $88.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of 9.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Lear Co. has a 1-year low of $73.85 and a 1-year high of $138.69.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. As a group, analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Lear's payout ratio is 34.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Lear in a report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $123.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen cut shares of Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $113.91.

Insider Activity at Lear

In other Lear news, Director Rod Lache acquired 2,178 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $199,940.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

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.