Bank of Nova Scotia Makes New $223,000 Investment in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,799 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its position in Lear by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Lear by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC now owns 5,602 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lear by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Lear by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 2,998 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management SA increased its stake in shares of Lear by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 24,253 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,903,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Carl A. Esposito sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.00, for a total value of $1,136,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,756,930. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Lear news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 11,260 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.50, for a total transaction of $1,559,510.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 16,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,318,490. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Carl A. Esposito sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.00, for a total transaction of $1,136,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,756,930. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,811 shares of company stock valued at $3,014,579. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on LEA shares. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $143.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. TheStreet upgraded shares of Lear from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $146.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Lear from $136.00 to $137.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.23.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LEA opened at $124.36 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $130.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $7.34 billion, a PE ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.53. Lear Co. has a 52-week low of $114.67 and a 52-week high of $158.44.

Lear (NYSE:LEA – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The auto parts company reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.60 billion. Lear had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 11.08 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 9th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 8th. Lear’s payout ratio is 43.63%.

About Lear

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Lear Corp. engages in the design, manufacture and supply of automotive seats, electrical distribution systems and electronic modules, as well as related sub-systems, components, and software. It operates through the following segments: Seating and E-Systems. The Seating segment consists of the design, engineering, just-in-time assembly and delivery of complete seat systems, as well as the manufacture of all major seat components, including seat covers and surface materials such as leather and fabric, seat structures and mechanisms, seat foam and headrests.