Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 18.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 196,829 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 30,529 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Lear were worth $21,015,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LEA. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Lear during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lear by 70.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 266 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 240.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 303 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Lear in the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 71.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lear Price Performance

LEA stock opened at $93.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 9.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $99.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.91. Lear Co. has a 1 year low of $91.70 and a 1 year high of $147.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 2.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.87 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $132.00 price target on shares of Lear in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $139.67.

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.