Amalgamated Bank Raises Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,684 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 751 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Lear were worth $5,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,237,016 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $174,382,000 after purchasing an additional 149,958 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Lear during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,356,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Lear in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,316,000. abrdn plc lifted its holdings in Lear by 90.1% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 22,432 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,168,000 after buying an additional 10,631 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Lear by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lear Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:LEA opened at $127.81 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Lear Co. has a 52-week low of $120.48 and a 52-week high of $157.90. The stock has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $138.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.59.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 2.28%. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.78 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Lear’s payout ratio is 33.59%.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other Lear news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of Lear stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on LEA. UBS Group reduced their price target on Lear from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Lear from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Lear from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.33.

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.