Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Bought by Boston Partners

Boston Partners increased its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 66.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 981,669 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 391,949 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned approximately 1.68% of Lear worth $138,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Advisor Partners II LLC raised its holdings in Lear by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 1,921 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Lear by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Lear by 4.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,152 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Lear by 4.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,975 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in Lear by 4.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Lear news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Lear Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE LEA traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $132.06. 456,034 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 568,878. The company has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.55. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $137.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Lear Co. has a one year low of $120.48 and a one year high of $157.90.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.14. Lear had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 2.28%. The business had revenue of $5.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.78 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Lear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised Lear from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $150.00 to $160.00 in a report on Friday. Barclays decreased their price target on Lear from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on Lear from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup dropped their price target on Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $161.44.

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.