Yousif Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Yousif Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,095 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 291 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lear were worth $4,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Lear by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lear during the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Covestor Ltd lifted 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 worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted 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 worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted 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 worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LEA has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Benchmark raised 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lear presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of Lear 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 owns 13,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related 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 transaction of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lear Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of LEA stock opened at $136.45 on Friday. Lear Co. has a fifty-two week low of $117.79 and a fifty-two week high of $157.90. The stock has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.86. 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 (NYSE:LEA) last announced 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 net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The firm had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.81 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

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

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.