First Trust Advisors LP Has $107.31 Million Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 45.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,133,186 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 356,760 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 2.09% of Lear worth $107,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Lear during the fourth quarter worth $15,711,000. Mariner LLC lifted its position in shares of Lear by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 7,290 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 878 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 144,412 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $13,676,000 after buying an additional 9,363 shares during the period. Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Lear during the 4th quarter worth about $453,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lear by 47.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 1,057 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In related news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,940.40. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

Lear Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of LEA traded down $0.82 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $84.57. 478,687 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 745,567. The company has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Lear Co. has a 12-month low of $73.85 and a 12-month high of $138.69. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.55.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. Research analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Lear's payout ratio is 34.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Cowen downgraded Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price (down previously from $117.00) on shares of Lear in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $113.91.

Lear Company 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.