Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Stake Trimmed by Pzena Investment Management LLC

Pzena Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,253,857 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 261,513 shares during the quarter. Lear comprises 3.3% of Pzena Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned 10.73% of Lear worth $883,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Lear by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,912,006 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $793,391,000 after acquiring an additional 45,567 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Lear by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,179,175 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $307,721,000 after buying an additional 153,282 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Lear by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,896,871 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $254,560,000 after buying an additional 287,483 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Lear by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,237,016 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $174,382,000 after buying an additional 149,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 981,669 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $138,595,000 after acquiring an additional 391,949 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on LEA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Lear from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lear from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Lear has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $161.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Lear Trading Down 1.2 %

Lear stock traded down $1.51 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $126.68. 517,841 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 564,898. Lear Co. has a 12 month low of $121.38 and a 12 month high of $157.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $135.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.81, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.55.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 2.28%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.78 EPS. Analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Lear's payout ratio is presently 33.59%.

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.