WBI Investments LLC Invests $712,000 in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

WBI Investments LLC bought a new position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,913 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $712,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Lear during the 1st quarter valued at $62,000. FORA Capital LLC increased its holdings in Lear by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 12,616 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,828,000 after purchasing an additional 3,932 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lear by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,828 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Lear by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,180 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lear in the 1st quarter valued at $812,000. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on LEA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Lear from $139.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. StockNews.com cut Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Lear from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $159,174.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $159,174.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.86, for a total value of $296,273.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Lear Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Lear stock traded up $1.92 during trading on Thursday, reaching $117.45. 301,087 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 646,816. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $112.26 and a twelve month high of $157.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $121.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $131.67.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.14. Lear had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 2.28%. The firm had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 14.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. Lear’s payout ratio is 33.59%.

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.