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

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 196,829 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,529 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.36% of Lear worth $21,015,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LEA. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Lear by 9.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,049 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $14,742,000 after purchasing an additional 12,094 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in Lear during the 2nd quarter valued at about $530,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lear in the third quarter valued at about $1,946,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Lear by 36.9% during the 2nd 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. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Lear by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,221 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,316,000 after buying an additional 6,055 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on LEA shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Lear in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Barclays lowered Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $132.00 target price on shares of Lear in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.67.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA stock opened at $93.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $99.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.45. Lear Co. has a 12 month low of $91.70 and a 12 month high of $147.11.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 14.68%. Lear’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.87 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

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

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.