Towle & Co. Boosts Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Towle & Co. grew its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 446.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,152 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 35,261 shares during the period. Towle & Co. owned about 0.08% of Lear worth $4,086,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new stake in shares of Lear in the 4th quarter valued at $90,700,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Lear by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,212,579 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $209,531,000 after acquiring an additional 498,918 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lear by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,491,895 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $614,782,000 after acquiring an additional 447,835 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Lear by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,133,186 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $107,313,000 after acquiring an additional 356,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lear in the 4th quarter valued at $31,881,000. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LEA. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Lear in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $123.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, March 7th. Cowen lowered shares of Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 price target on shares of Lear and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.09.

Insider Activity at Lear

In other Lear news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the completion of 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of Lear stock traded down $1.46 on Friday, reaching $89.08. The stock had a trading volume of 694,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 738,292. Lear Co. has a 1 year low of $73.85 and a 1 year high of $127.58. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business's 50 day moving average is $86.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.75.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. The firm had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.18 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is 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.