Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stock Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 36.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,871,346 shares of the auto parts company's stock after buying an additional 504,091 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 3.30% of Lear worth $213,726,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Lear in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Lear in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in Lear in the first quarter valued at $62,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Lear in the fourth quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted 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 last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LEA. StockNews.com raised Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Lear from $141.00 to $127.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group decreased their price target 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 decreased their price target on Lear from $132.00 to $131.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Lear from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $151.40.

Lear Stock Performance

LEA stock traded up $2.81 during trading on Thursday, hitting $110.02. The company had a trading volume of 511,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 639,549. The firm has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.45. Lear Co. has a 1-year low of $101.67 and a 1-year high of $147.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $114.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. Lear's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.59%.

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.