Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $12.09 Million Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,643 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 1,262 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.15% of Lear worth $12,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 176.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 15,136 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,971,000 after acquiring an additional 9,666 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in Lear by 4.0% in the third quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 17,500 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,348,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Lear in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,667,000. Finally, Perennial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lear by 4.1% during the third quarter. Perennial Advisors LLC now owns 29,055 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEA traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $134.46. 33,715 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 518,815. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.54. Lear Co. has a 1 year low of $117.79 and a 1 year high of $157.90.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) 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 business had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.81 EPS. Lear’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 14.52 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s payout ratio is 31.82%.

Insider Transactions at Lear

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays increased their target price on Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Benchmark increased their target price on Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.44.

Lear Company 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.