Citigroup Inc. Has $3.84 Million Stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Citigroup Inc. decreased its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA – Get Rating) by 42.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,998 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 22,513 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Lear were worth $3,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LEA. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Lear by 47.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,064,807 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $437,259,000 after buying an additional 993,216 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Lear by 6.2% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 6,864,149 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $821,570,000 after purchasing an additional 401,070 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in Lear by 1,201.9% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 281,416 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $33,683,000 after purchasing an additional 259,800 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Lear by 149.2% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 391,428 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $49,277,000 after purchasing an additional 234,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Lear by 94.5% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 410,480 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $49,130,000 after purchasing an additional 199,480 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on LEA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Lear from $136.00 to $137.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Lear in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Lear in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Lear from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Lear from $143.00 to $140.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.23.

Insider Activity at Lear

In related news, SVP Alicia J. Davis sold 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.62, for a total transaction of $201,021.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $483,175.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 11,260 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.50, for a total value of $1,559,510.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 16,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,318,490. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Alicia J. Davis sold 1,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.62, for a total transaction of $201,021.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $483,175.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,650 shares of company stock worth $2,896,532. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lear Stock Up 0.6 %

LEA opened at $125.06 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.53. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $114.67 and a twelve month high of $158.44. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $131.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.92.

Lear (NYSE:LEA – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The auto parts company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.60 billion. Lear had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 12.32%. Lear’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 11.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 8th. Lear’s payout ratio is currently 43.63%.

About Lear

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Lear Corp. engages in the design, manufacture and supply of automotive seats, electrical distribution systems and electronic modules, as well as related sub-systems, components, and software. It operates through the following segments: Seating and E-Systems. The Seating segment consists of the design, engineering, just-in-time assembly and delivery of complete seat systems, as well as the manufacture of all major seat components, including seat covers and surface materials such as leather and fabric, seat structures and mechanisms, seat foam and headrests.