Beck Bode LLC Takes Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Beck Bode LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 31,637 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $4,467,000. Beck Bode LLC owned 0.05% of Lear as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LEA. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Lear by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Lear during the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Lear by 131.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 443 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Lear by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 622 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Lear by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 873 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays raised their price objective on Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $162.44.

Lear Stock Down 8.2 %

Shares of LEA traded down $11.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $125.92. 2,140,875 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 555,762. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Lear Co. has a 12-month low of $117.79 and a 12-month high of $157.90. The company has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.54.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.12 by ($0.09). Lear had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 2.44%. The company had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 14.51 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Lear's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lear news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of Lear stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total value of $1,415,224.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Lear news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of Lear stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total value of $1,415,224.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,019.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

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.

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