BNP Paribas Financial Markets Reduces Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets reduced its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 63.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,583 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 32,773 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in Lear were worth $1,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lear by 187.0% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lear by 68.2% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted 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 buying an additional 287 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in Lear by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 427 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Lear by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 491 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEA has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 target price on shares of Lear and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Lear in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $123.00 target price on the stock. Barclays cut shares of Lear from an "equal weight" rating to a "negative" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lear from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.09.

Lear Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:LEA traded down $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $93.87. 379,826 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 737,328. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $87.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.85. Lear Co. has a 12-month low of $73.85 and a 12-month high of $128.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. Lear's payout ratio is 36.11%.

Insider Activity at Lear

In other Lear news, Director Rod Lache acquired 2,178 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at $199,940.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.