Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $2.98 Million Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 31,506 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $2,984,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.06% of Lear as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in Lear by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,049 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $14,742,000 after purchasing an additional 12,094 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lear by 10.9% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,052 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Lear in the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 18.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 196,829 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $21,015,000 after buying an additional 30,529 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 7.3% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 144,282 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $15,748,000 after buying an additional 9,774 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on LEA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Lear in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $123.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays downgraded shares of Lear from an "equal weight" rating to a "negative" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Lear from $102.00 to $83.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $113.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In related news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $199,940.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lear Price Performance

Lear stock traded up $1.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $86.89. The company had a trading volume of 902,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 735,220. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $87.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.66. Lear Co. has a 1 year low of $73.85 and a 1 year high of $133.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.34.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. On average, equities analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. Lear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.45%.

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.