26,460 Shares of Lear Corporation $LEA Bought by Ellsworth Advisors LLC

Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 26,460 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,123,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Lear in the second quarter valued at approximately $65,397,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Lear by 220.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 258,063 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $29,574,000 after acquiring an additional 177,632 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor bought a new stake in Lear during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $17,423,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Lear by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,943,480 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $356,380,000 after purchasing an additional 107,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Lear during the 3rd quarter valued at $11,911,000. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on LEA. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Lear from $143.00 to $139.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Lear from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Lear from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Lear from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut Lear from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,646 shares of Lear stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.35, for a total value of $199,742.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 37 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,489.95. This trade represents a 97.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Lear Price Performance

LEA opened at $121.36 on Friday. Lear Corporation has a one year low of $98.79 and a one year high of $150.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $123.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.29.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The auto parts company reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by $0.30. Lear had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 14.18%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.06 earnings per share. Lear’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lear Corporation will post 14.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 2nd. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.70%.

Lear declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 24th that permits the company to buy back $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto parts company to reacquire up to 25.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Lear Company Profile

Lear Corporation (NYSE: LEA) is a global automotive technology supplier that designs and manufactures products used by vehicle manufacturers worldwide. The company’s principal business areas are seating systems and e-systems, which support the functionality, comfort, safety and connectivity of modern vehicles.

Lear’s seating business provides complete seating systems and related components, including seat structures, mechanisms, foam, trim, covers and comfort technologies. Its e-systems business develops electrical distribution systems, connection systems, electronic components and software-enabled technologies that help manage power, data and connectivity within vehicles.

Founded in 1917 and headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, Lear serves automotive manufacturers through operations and facilities across major vehicle-producing regions, including North America, Europe and Asia.