Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Bought by Greenleaf Trust

Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,984 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Lear were worth $563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Lear by 176.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 15,136 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,971,000 after purchasing an additional 9,666 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 17,500 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,348,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lear in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,667,000. Finally, Perennial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Perennial Advisors LLC now owns 29,055 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark boosted their target price on Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.44.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE LEA opened at $134.18 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $138.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.89. Lear Co. has a 12-month low of $117.79 and a 12-month high of $157.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.54.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.12 by ($0.09). Lear had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 2.44%. The business had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.81 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 14.52 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s payout ratio is 31.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.