Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Stake Raised by Nordea Investment Management AB

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,465 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,711 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 0.07% of Lear worth $3,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Lear by 70.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 266 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,105 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Lear by 71.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 4.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,526 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its position in shares of Lear by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 16,339 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lowered shares of Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Lear from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.18.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of LEA opened at $90.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a PE ratio of 9.56, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.43. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $90.42 and a twelve month high of $147.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $96.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.27.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 14.68%. Lear’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.87 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. Lear’s payout ratio is 32.39%.

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.