Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. Acquires 11,744 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. lifted its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 44.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,232 shares of the auto parts company's stock after buying an additional 11,744 shares during the period. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. owned about 0.07% of Lear worth $3,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in Lear by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 427 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 9,957 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,105 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Lear by 71.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Lear by 4.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,526 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Lear currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $127.00.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $97.55. 457,160 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 695,632. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $94.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.62. The company has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.42. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $86.28 and a twelve month high of $147.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Lear's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.45%.

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.