Amundi Reduces Stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Amundi trimmed its holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,423 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 5,420 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.13% of Lear worth $6,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. RWC Asset Management LLP lifted its position in Lear by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 410,908 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $38,913,000 after purchasing an additional 77,691 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lear by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,216 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $873,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Lear by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,049 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $14,742,000 after buying an additional 12,094 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Lear by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 39,465 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $3,759,000 after buying an additional 5,711 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Lear by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 676,977 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $64,110,000 after acquiring an additional 99,072 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

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Lear Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Lear stock traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $95.92. The company had a trading volume of 470,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 705,638. The company has a 50 day moving average of $95.23 and a 200 day moving average of $99.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. Lear Co. has a 52-week low of $86.28 and a 52-week high of $147.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. On average, equities analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Lear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lear news, Director Rod Lache bought 2,178 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at $199,940.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LEA. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.36.

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.