Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Has $53.40 Million Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 78.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 563,930 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 2,066,922 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Lear were worth $53,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEA. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lear by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,714,653 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $842,054,000 after purchasing an additional 526,763 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 24.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,264,090 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $137,975,000 after buying an additional 247,312 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 13.7% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,713,661 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $187,046,000 after buying an additional 206,822 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 7,452.3% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 173,855 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $16,129,000 after buying an additional 171,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 595,615 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $56,405,000 after buying an additional 121,734 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEA opened at $93.61 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $95.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.94. Lear Co. has a fifty-two week low of $86.28 and a fifty-two week high of $147.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. 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 (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. As a group, analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s payout ratio is presently 34.45%.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other Lear news, Director Rod Lache bought 2,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,940.40. This trade represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Cowen lowered Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group cut their price target on Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays cut their price target on Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.36.

Lear Company 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.