Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Stock Position Lessened by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 29,095 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 291 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lear were worth $4,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LEA. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lear during the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 21.0% during the third 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 increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 41.3% during the fourth 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. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lear Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE LEA opened at $136.45 on Friday. Lear Co. has a one year low of $117.79 and a one year high of $157.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $138.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.86.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.12 by ($0.09). Lear had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 2.44%. The firm had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.82%.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LEA shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Benchmark raised their target price on Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com cut Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.