1,643 Shares in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Bought by Balentine LLC

Balentine LLC bought a new position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,643 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Lear by 4.9% during 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 period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Lear by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 622 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in shares of Lear by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 9,297 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Lear by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 118,805 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $15,944,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792 shares during the period. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Lear by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,186 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LEA shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on Lear from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lear from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $160.00 in a report on Friday, May 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.44.

Lear Trading Down 2.2 %

LEA opened at $123.84 on Friday. Lear Co. has a one year low of $121.38 and a one year high of $157.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.55. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $135.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.33.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,465,019.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.