Van ECK Associates Corp Takes Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 10,763 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,520,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Lear during the 4th quarter worth $56,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 131.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 443 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Lear by 21.0% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 622 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in Lear by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 873 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,019.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Lear from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com cut Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Lear from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.33.

Lear Stock Performance

Lear stock opened at $129.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $137.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.45. The company has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.55. Lear Co. has a fifty-two week low of $120.48 and a fifty-two week high of $157.90.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.14. Lear had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 2.28%. The business had revenue of $5.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.59%.

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.