Vontobel Holding Ltd. Trims Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lowered its holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,618 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 524 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Lear were worth $1,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 90.8% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 290 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in Lear in the 2nd quarter worth $57,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Lear by 131.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 443 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lear by 58.4% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 583 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 622 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on LEA. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Lear from $195.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of Lear 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 approximately $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA stock opened at $132.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $138.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.80. Lear Co. has a 52 week low of $117.79 and a 52 week high of $157.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.54.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.12 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 2.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.82%.

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.