Systematic Financial Management LP Grows Stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Systematic Financial Management LP increased its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 30.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,804 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 4,850 shares during the quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP’s holdings in Lear were worth $1,970,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 187.0% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 68.2% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 233.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 410 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 427 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lear

In other news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,940.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lear Stock Up 1.0%

LEA opened at $94.69 on Friday. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $73.85 and a twelve month high of $130.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $87.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.88. The company has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released 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. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. The firm had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.18 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered shares of Lear from an “equal weight” rating to a “negative” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 price target on shares of Lear and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Lear from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.00.

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.