Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 100 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,875 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Lear were worth $688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LEA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Lear by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,912,006 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $793,391,000 after acquiring an additional 45,567 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Lear by 17.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,896,871 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $254,560,000 after acquiring an additional 287,483 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Lear by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,237,016 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $174,382,000 after acquiring an additional 149,958 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in Lear by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 981,669 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $138,595,000 after acquiring an additional 391,949 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Lear by 236.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 577,690 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $77,526,000 after acquiring an additional 405,875 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LEA opened at $126.68 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $135.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.50. Lear Co. has a 52 week low of $121.38 and a 52 week high of $157.90. 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 market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.55.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.78 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on LEA. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lear from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays decreased their target price on Lear from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com raised Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Lear from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lear currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.44.

Insider Activity at Lear

In related news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.