Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 189,083 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 25,780 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.34% of Lear worth $21,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Lear during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Lear during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Lear in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in Lear during the 4th quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in Lear by 72.1% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 654 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LEA. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Lear from $136.00 to $128.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Lear from $132.00 to $131.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Lear from $179.00 to $166.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Lear from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Four equities 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $153.56.

Lear Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE LEA traded down $2.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $114.28. 520,676 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 638,476. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.34. The business's 50-day moving average is $115.75 and its 200-day moving average is $126.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.47. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $107.25 and a twelve month high of $147.52.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.02 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 2.30%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Lear's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.59%.

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.