RWC Asset Management LLP Increases Stock Position in Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA)

Key Points

• RWC Asset Management LLP increased its holdings in Lear Corporation by 16.8% in the 1st quarter, owning approximately 480,000 shares valued at $42.3 million, making it their 11th largest holding.
• Several institutional investors and hedge funds have also adjusted their positions in Lear, with over 97% of the stock owned by such entities.
• Barclays raised its price target for Lear from $100.00 to $120.00, while Citigroup set a target of $136.00, reflecting positive ratings from multiple research firms.

RWC Asset Management LLP grew its position in shares of Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 16.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 479,994 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 69,086 shares during the period. Lear makes up about 2.2% of RWC Asset Management LLP's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. RWC Asset Management LLP owned about 0.90% of Lear worth $42,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Lear by 51.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Lear during the fourth quarter worth $58,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Lear by 131.8% during the first 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. CX Institutional acquired a new position in Lear during the first quarter worth $71,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Lear by 57.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 938 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,187 shares of Lear stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total value of $110,224.82. Following the sale, the director owned 84 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,800.24. The trade was a 93.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Lear from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Lear from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Lear from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Lear from $116.00 to $109.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $113.00.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LEA traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $98.88. 1,082,989 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 691,629. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Lear Corporation has a 1 year low of $73.85 and a 1 year high of $125.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.95. The stock has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.54, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.29.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.24. Lear had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 2.05%. The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Lear Corporation will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. Lear's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.