Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Acquired by Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,221 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Lear were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LEA. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,385 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Lear by 73.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 8,701 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $950,000 after purchasing an additional 3,678 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,788 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 16,928 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,848,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lear in the third quarter worth $483,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lear news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,940.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Cowen cut Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.36.

Lear Stock Performance

LEA opened at $93.61 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $95.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.94. Lear Co. has a 1 year low of $86.28 and a 1 year high of $147.11. The company has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. Equities analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s payout ratio is currently 34.45%.

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.