Quantbot Technologies LP Purchases 5,967 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,948 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 5,967 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Lear were worth $2,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LEA. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lear by 7.3% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,714,653 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $842,054,000 after purchasing an additional 526,763 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lear by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,754,752 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $314,620,000 after purchasing an additional 238,964 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Lear by 36.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,871,346 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $213,726,000 after buying an additional 504,091 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Lear by 1.0% during the second quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,816,880 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $207,506,000 after buying an additional 17,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 13.7% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,713,661 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $187,046,000 after buying an additional 206,822 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays cut shares of Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research started coverage on Lear in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Lear from $114.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.25.

Lear Price Performance

Lear stock opened at $97.25 on Friday. Lear Co. has a 12-month low of $92.14 and a 12-month high of $147.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $102.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.46.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. Lear’s payout ratio is 32.39%.

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.