Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 5,093 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 371,939 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,093 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.63% of Lear worth $53,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,792,397 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,226,452,000 after purchasing an additional 227,230 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lear by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,645,810 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $675,747,000 after acquiring an additional 20,874 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Lear by 47.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,064,807 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $437,259,000 after acquiring an additional 993,216 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Lear by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,463,244 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $351,234,000 after acquiring an additional 12,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lear by 44.5% during the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,049,053 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $294,142,000 after acquiring an additional 630,677 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of LEA opened at $134.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.17, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.60. Lear Co. has a 52 week low of $117.79 and a 52 week high of $157.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $133.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 26th. The auto parts company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $5.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.62 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 2.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 6th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 5th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 30th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Lear from $158.00 to $152.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $164.00 to $142.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Lear in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.60.

About Lear

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.