Redmond Asset Management LLC Has $331,000 Stock Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Redmond Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,499 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 223 shares during the period. Redmond Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Lear were worth $331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Lear by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 15,059 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,426,000 after acquiring an additional 2,530 shares in the last quarter. Prakash Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lear in the 4th quarter worth about $379,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its stake in Lear by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 414,009 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $39,207,000 after acquiring an additional 118,560 shares in the last quarter. Paradice Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Lear by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Paradice Investment Management LLC now owns 293,254 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,771,000 after acquiring an additional 61,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAM Holding AG purchased a new stake in Lear in the 4th quarter worth about $1,651,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. 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 research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lear currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.00.

Lear Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of LEA stock opened at $96.43 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.32. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $86.28 and a twelve month high of $147.11. The company has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.42.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.