Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Boosts Stock Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 13.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,713,661 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 206,822 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Lear were worth $187,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Lear in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,984,000. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in Lear in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $530,000. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Lear by 4.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,023,165 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $148,216,000 after acquiring an additional 41,496 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Lear by 36.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,871,346 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $213,726,000 after acquiring an additional 504,091 shares during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of Lear by 46.0% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 83,072 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $9,497,000 after acquiring an additional 26,154 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LEA opened at $97.89 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.46. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $92.14 and a twelve month high of $147.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $102.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.32. Lear had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.87 EPS. Lear’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on LEA. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Lear from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Lear from $114.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays downgraded shares of Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lear currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.25.

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.