Vest Financial LLC Has $2.45 Million Stock Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 86.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,901 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 12,018 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Lear were worth $2,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lear by 187.0% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Lear during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Lear by 240.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 303 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 71.6% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Lear by 233.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 410 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE LEA opened at $96.01 on Friday. Lear Co. has a 1-year low of $86.28 and a 1-year high of $147.11. The company has a 50 day moving average of $95.59 and a 200-day moving average of $102.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.42.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly 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 forecast that Lear Co. will post 13.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on LEA. Barclays reduced their price objective on Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.18.

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.