FORA Capital LLC Has $860,000 Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

FORA Capital LLC cut its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 41.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund 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.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LEA. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in Lear by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 427 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lear by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 9,957 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Lear by 68.2% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in Lear by 51.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Lear by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,709 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LEA. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Lear from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Cowen lowered Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 target price on Lear and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Lear in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $123.00 price target on the stock. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.00.

Insider Activity at Lear

In other Lear news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,940.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Lear Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of LEA stock opened at $90.57 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $87.26 and a 200-day moving average of $93.11. The firm has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a PE ratio of 10.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Lear Co. has a 12 month low of $73.85 and a 12 month high of $133.56.

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

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.11%.

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.