Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC Takes $1.19 Million Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,597 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,193,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 2,784 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Lear by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,256 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lear in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $902,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Lear by 187.0% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Lear by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,842,247 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $174,461,000 after acquiring an additional 22,601 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on LEA shares. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Lear from $106.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Lear from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Seven research 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.73.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE:LEA opened at $96.25 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $95.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.57. Lear Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.03 and a fifty-two week high of $147.11. The firm has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.33.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 2.33%. Lear’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.87 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.39%.

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.