Van ECK Associates Corp Takes $1.52 Million Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,763 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,520,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Lear by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,975 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Lear by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 39,700 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,328,000 after acquiring an additional 5,379 shares during the period. Strs Ohio grew its position in Lear by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 11,279 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,513,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its position in Lear by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 10,350 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC grew its position in Lear by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 1,921 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lear news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on LEA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.33.

Lear Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of LEA stock opened at $129.25 on Friday. Lear Co. has a 12-month low of $120.48 and a 12-month high of $157.90. The company has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $137.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.14. Lear had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The firm had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.78 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.