Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Sold by FORA Capital LLC

FORA Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 41.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,081 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 6,480 shares during the quarter. FORA Capital LLC's holdings in Lear were worth $860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Lear by 187.0% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lear by 68.2% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 233.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 410 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake 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. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Lear by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 491 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In related news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at $199,940.40. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on LEA. Barclays cut Lear from an "equal weight" rating to a "negative" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Lear from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Cowen cut shares of Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Lear from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.00.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $95.55. 506,365 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 738,310. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Lear Co. has a fifty-two week low of $73.85 and a fifty-two week high of $133.56. The business's 50 day moving average is $87.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. 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.