Vestcor Inc Purchases Shares of 4,359 Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,359 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $413,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 247.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 788 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Summit X LLC purchased a new stake in Lear during the fourth quarter valued at about $823,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Lear by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,992 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,325,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares during the last quarter. Kendall Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 9,505 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 2,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Lear during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,386,000. 97.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of Lear stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,940.40. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on LEA shares. TD Cowen lowered Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.36.

Lear Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE LEA opened at $95.63 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.32. Lear Co. has a fifty-two week low of $86.28 and a fifty-two week high of $147.11. The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.36.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. On average, analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s payout ratio is currently 34.45%.

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.