MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,684 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 6,610 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. owned approximately 0.17% of Lear worth $8,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lear in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,826,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 903,723 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $85,583,000 after purchasing an additional 187,935 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 25,179 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lear by 59.3% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 148,769 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $14,088,000 after acquiring an additional 55,391 shares during the period. Finally, Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 16,762 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,874 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other Lear news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at $199,940.40. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Lear in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $123.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lear from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lear from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.00.

Lear Stock Up 1.0%

LEA stock opened at $94.69 on Friday. Lear Co. has a 12 month low of $73.85 and a 12 month high of $130.69. The firm has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $5.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.18 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.11%.

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.