Auxano Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Auxano Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 53.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,602 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 4,178 shares during the quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lear were worth $341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Lear by 7.3% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,714,653 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $842,054,000 after acquiring an additional 526,763 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,842,247 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $174,461,000 after purchasing an additional 22,601 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,713,661 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $187,046,000 after buying an additional 206,822 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,264,090 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $137,975,000 after buying an additional 247,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Lear by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,141,476 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $124,621,000 after buying an additional 44,128 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:LEA opened at $93.97 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $95.10 and its 200 day moving average is $100.92. The company has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Lear Co. has a 1 year low of $86.28 and a 1 year high of $147.11.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is 34.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.00.

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.