WBI Investments LLC Invests $401,000 in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

WBI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,236 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $401,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lear by 187.0% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lear by 68.2% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Lear by 233.3% during the fourth 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. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in Lear by 39.1% during the fourth 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. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cowen lowered Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. TD Cowen lowered Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 price target on Lear and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Lear from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Lear in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $123.00 price target on the stock. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.09.

Lear Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:LEA traded down $1.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $89.08. The company had a trading volume of 694,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 738,810. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business's 50 day moving average price is $86.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.72. The stock has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a PE ratio of 9.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30. Lear Co. has a 1-year low of $73.85 and a 1-year high of $127.58.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. Lear's quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.18 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. Lear's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.11%.

Insider Activity at Lear

In other Lear news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at $199,940.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Lear

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.