Edmp Inc. Acquires New Stake in Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA)

Edmp Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,660 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $323,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in Lear by 68.2% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Lear by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 491 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lear in the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Lear by 131.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 765 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 247.1% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 788 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Lear

In related news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,187 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total value of $110,224.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 84 shares in the company, valued at $7,800.24. This trade represents a 93.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LEA. Barclays lowered shares of Lear from an "equal weight" rating to a "negative" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Lear from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Lear from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Lear in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $123.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.09.

Lear Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:LEA traded up $1.12 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $93.88. The company had a trading volume of 29,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 710,923. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.71. The company has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.29. Lear Corporation has a 52 week low of $73.85 and a 52 week high of $126.85.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 14.53%. Lear's revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lear Corporation will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. Lear's payout ratio is presently 36.11%.

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.