Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 27.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,143 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 5,922 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Lear were worth $2,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in Lear by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,714,653 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $842,054,000 after buying an additional 526,763 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. raised its position in Lear by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,842,247 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $174,461,000 after buying an additional 22,601 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Lear by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,713,661 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $187,046,000 after buying an additional 206,822 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Lear by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,264,090 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $137,975,000 after purchasing an additional 247,312 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Lear by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,141,476 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $124,621,000 after purchasing an additional 44,128 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LEA. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Cowen downgraded Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lear has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.36.

Lear Stock Up 1.1 %

LEA stock opened at $94.56 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $86.28 and a twelve month high of $147.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.51.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. On average, equities analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s payout ratio is presently 34.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other Lear news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at $199,940.40. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.