RWC Asset Management LLP Buys 77,691 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

RWC Asset Management LLP lifted its holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 23.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 410,908 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,691 shares during the period. Lear comprises approximately 1.9% of RWC Asset Management LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. RWC Asset Management LLP’s holdings in Lear were worth $38,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lear by 187.0% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Lear by 240.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 303 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Lear during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 71.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Lear by 233.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 410 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on LEA. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.00.

Lear Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Lear stock opened at $96.43 on Monday. Lear Co. has a 12-month low of $86.28 and a 12-month high of $147.11. The stock has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 10.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average of $94.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.39.

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

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Lear’s payout ratio is currently 34.45%.

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.