Stifel Financial Corp Buys 7,910 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,369 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 7,910 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.11% of Lear worth $6,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LEA. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lear by 11,753.3% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,016,778 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $116,126,000 after buying an additional 1,008,200 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lear by 15.2% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,187,890 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $820,929,000 after purchasing an additional 946,109 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Lear by 36.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,871,346 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $213,726,000 after purchasing an additional 504,091 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Lear by 115.4% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 561,100 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $64,083,000 after purchasing an additional 300,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lear by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,754,752 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $314,620,000 after buying an additional 238,964 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of LEA stock opened at $98.38 on Friday. Lear Co. has a 52-week low of $92.14 and a 52-week high of $147.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $100.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.74.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.32. Lear had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 2.33%. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.87 EPS. Lear’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Lear from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. TD Cowen cut their price target on Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays cut Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $140.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $132.00 price target on shares of Lear in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.25.

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.