Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Acquired by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,584 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Lear were worth $2,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LEA. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Lear by 47.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,064,807 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $437,259,000 after buying an additional 993,216 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lear during the 4th quarter valued at $59,288,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Lear during the 2nd quarter valued at $63,478,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Lear by 236.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 577,690 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $77,526,000 after buying an additional 405,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Lear by 134.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 600,643 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $74,492,000 after buying an additional 344,005 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE:LEA opened at $133.70 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $139.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Lear Co. has a 12 month low of $117.79 and a 12 month high of $157.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.54.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.12 by ($0.09). Lear had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The company had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,627 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,483.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,019.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on LEA. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Benchmark raised their price objective on Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.44.

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.