Perennial Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Perennial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 31,700 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $3,002,000. Perennial Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Lear as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LEA. Barclays PLC grew its position in Lear by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,049 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $14,742,000 after acquiring an additional 12,094 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Lear by 233.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 410 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lear by 187.0% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lear in the fourth quarter worth about $902,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Lear by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,256 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lear Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE LEA traded down $0.31 on Friday, hitting $90.90. 235,598 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 735,854. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $73.85 and a twelve month high of $127.58. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30. The company's 50 day moving average price is $86.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.58.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.48. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. The company had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.18 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. Lear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.11%.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on LEA. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Lear from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Lear and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.09.

Lear Company 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.