Swiss National Bank Has $25.98 Million Stock Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 184,000 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 5,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Lear were worth $25,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Lear by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Lear in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Lear by 131.9% during the third 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. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Lear by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 622 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Lear by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 873 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,019.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the company’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 sale, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of Lear stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total value of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,483.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lear from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Lear from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.33.

Lear Price Performance

LEA stock opened at $129.14 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.08, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $137.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.33. Lear Co. has a 52-week low of $120.48 and a 52-week high of $157.90.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.14. Lear had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 2.28%. The business had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.78 EPS. Lear’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders 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 2.39%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.59%.

Lear 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.