Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 34.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,622 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,249 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lear were worth $3,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Schroder Investment Management Group purchased a new position in Lear in the fourth quarter worth $90,700,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Lear by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,212,579 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $209,531,000 after purchasing an additional 498,918 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Lear by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,491,895 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $614,782,000 after buying an additional 447,835 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Lear by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,133,186 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $107,313,000 after buying an additional 356,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Lear during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,881,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Stock Performance

LEA opened at $95.28 on Wednesday. Lear Co. has a 12-month low of $73.85 and a 12-month high of $126.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $86.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.20.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. Lear’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.18 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on LEA. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Lear from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 target price on shares of Lear and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Lear in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $123.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.09.

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.