Ascent Group LLC Invests $1.90 Million in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Ascent Group LLC purchased a new position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,111 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,900,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lear in the 4th quarter valued at $79,611,000. Grimes & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Lear during the 1st quarter valued at $5,847,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC boosted its position in Lear by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 20,129 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after buying an additional 7,242 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its position in Lear by 307.9% during the 1st quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 12,869 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after buying an additional 9,714 shares during the period. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP raised its holdings in Lear by 83.9% in the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 107,582 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $15,192,000 after purchasing an additional 49,070 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:LEA traded up $0.43 on Monday, reaching $121.84. 540,624 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 658,412. The company has a market capitalization of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Lear Co. has a 12 month low of $112.26 and a 12 month high of $157.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.98.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.02 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.30% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 13.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. Lear’s payout ratio is 33.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $159,174.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of Lear stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $159,174.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of Lear stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.86, for a total transaction of $296,273.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEA has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $132.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $136.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.20.

About Lear

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.