Vest Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 86.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,901 shares of the auto parts company's stock after buying an additional 12,018 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Lear were worth $2,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 427 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Lakewood Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lear by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 9,957 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $943,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 13.8% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,105 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 71.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 4.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,526 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of Lear stock traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $96.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 867,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 723,081. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $95.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $102.46. Lear Co. has a one year low of $86.28 and a one year high of $147.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.42.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 13.29 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. Lear's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group reduced their price target 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $127.00.

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.