First Trust Advisors LP Sells 12,795 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA – Get Rating) by 17.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 62,501 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 12,795 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Lear were worth $7,481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Lear by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 744,731 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $89,135,000 after purchasing an additional 60,019 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Lear by 0.8% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,434,808 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,009,562,000 after buying an additional 66,914 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lear during the third quarter valued at about $292,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lear by 1.0% during the third quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 42,147 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $5,045,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Lear by 1,201.9% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 281,416 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $33,683,000 after buying an additional 259,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.56% of the company’s stock.

Lear Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of LEA opened at $131.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.12, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.89. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $114.67 and a twelve month high of $158.44.

Lear (NYSE:LEA – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The auto parts company reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.27. Lear had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 11.22%. The firm had revenue of $5.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 11.04 EPS for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 9th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is 56.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LEA. TheStreet upgraded Lear from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $149.00 to $139.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Citigroup cut their target price on Lear from $146.00 to $143.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. Finally, Cowen upped their target price on Lear from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lear currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.38.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 11,260 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.50, for a total value of $1,559,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,318,490. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 6,142 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.59, for a total value of $783,657.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,135,856.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 11,260 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.50, for a total transaction of $1,559,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 16,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,318,490. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,320 shares of company stock valued at $5,265,103. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Lear Company Profile

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Lear Corp. engages in the design, manufacture and supply of automotive seats, electrical distribution systems and electronic modules, as well as related sub-systems, components, and software. It operates through the following segments: Seating and E-Systems. The Seating segment consists of the design, engineering, just-in-time assembly and delivery of complete seat systems, as well as the manufacture of all major seat components, including seat covers and surface materials such as leather and fabric, seat structures and mechanisms, seat foam and headrests.