Swiss National Bank Reduces Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 184,000 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 5,300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.32% of Lear worth $25,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisor Partners II LLC lifted its holdings in Lear by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 1,921 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Lear by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Lear by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,152 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Lear by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,975 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 4.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Lear

In other Lear news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total value of $1,415,224.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,483.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Lear Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE LEA opened at $129.14 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $137.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Lear Co. has a 12-month low of $120.48 and a 12-month high of $157.90. The company has a market cap of $7.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.55.

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

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on LEA. StockNews.com lowered Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Lear from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Lear from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.33.

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.