Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Bought by Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,996 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 587 shares during the quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Lear were worth $1,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Lear in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 90.8% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 290 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Lear in the 2nd quarter valued at about $57,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 131.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 443 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 58.4% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 583 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lear Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:LEA opened at $131.93 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $139.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.87. Lear Co. has a 12-month low of $117.79 and a 12-month high of $157.90. The firm has a market cap of $7.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.63, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 2.44%. The business had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.81 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 14.55 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lear news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 $1,810,483.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Lear news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 $1,810,483.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEA has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Lear from $195.00 to $179.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Benchmark boosted their target price on Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.44.

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.