Stifel Financial Corp Sells 54,634 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Stifel Financial Corp cut its position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 92.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,735 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 54,634 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp's holdings in Lear were worth $448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lear by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 966 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Lear by 80.0% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,841 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263 shares in the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Lear in the fourth quarter worth $580,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 30,626 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $2,900,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Lear by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,614,227 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $247,566,000 after purchasing an additional 283,838 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Lear in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $123.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Lear and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other Lear news, Director Rod Lache bought 2,178 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $199,940.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 company insiders.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEA traded up $0.93 during trading on Friday, hitting $94.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 463,649 shares, compared to its average volume of 735,853. 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 firm has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $87.08 and a 200-day moving average of $92.94. Lear Co. has a 12 month low of $73.85 and a 12 month high of $131.55.

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

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company 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 3.25%. 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.