Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Purchased by Systematic Financial Management LP

Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 30.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,804 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,850 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP's holdings in Lear were worth $1,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LEA. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 9.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,049 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $14,742,000 after purchasing an additional 12,094 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in Lear by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 115,324 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $10,921,000 after acquiring an additional 9,290 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in Lear by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 427 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Lear by 233.3% during 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. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Lear by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,842,247 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $174,461,000 after acquiring an additional 22,601 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In related news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $199,940.40. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LEA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays cut shares of Lear from an "equal weight" rating to a "negative" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Lear from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Lear in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $123.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.09.

Lear Stock Performance

LEA traded down $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $93.87. 379,826 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 737,328. Lear Co. has a 1 year low of $73.85 and a 1 year 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $87.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.85.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. Lear's revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.18 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

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