Empirical Finance LLC Makes New Investment in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Empirical Finance LLC bought a new position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,611 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $527,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LEA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lear in the fourth quarter worth $79,611,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Lear by 970.4% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 540,850 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $76,373,000 after buying an additional 490,324 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Lear by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 981,669 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $138,595,000 after buying an additional 391,949 shares in the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP raised its position in Lear by 55.4% during the fourth quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,067,888 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $150,796,000 after purchasing an additional 380,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP raised its position in Lear by 196.7% during the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 319,156 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $46,239,000 after purchasing an additional 211,574 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Lear Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE LEA traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $116.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 383,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 639,177. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.34. Lear Co. has a 12 month low of $107.25 and a 12 month high of $147.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.83. The stock has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.47.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.26. Lear had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 2.30%. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 13.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Lear's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Lear from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Lear from $136.00 to $128.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com raised Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Lear from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $153.56.

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.