BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 32,773 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 63.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,583 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 32,773 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Lear were worth $1,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LEA. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,216 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $873,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 410,908 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $38,913,000 after acquiring an additional 77,691 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lear during the 4th quarter valued at $3,871,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,614,227 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $247,566,000 after acquiring an additional 283,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,049 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $14,742,000 after acquiring an additional 12,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of Lear stock opened at $94.69 on Friday. Lear Co. has a one year low of $73.85 and a one year high of $130.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.48. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Lear’s payout ratio is 36.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on LEA. Citigroup began coverage on Lear in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $123.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 target price on Lear and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays downgraded Lear from an “equal weight” rating to a “negative” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com raised Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.00.

Insider Activity at Lear

In related news, Director Rod Lache acquired 2,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,940.40. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lear Company 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.