Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Acquired by RWC Asset Management LLP

RWC Asset Management LLP grew its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 23.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 410,908 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,691 shares during the quarter. Lear accounts for 1.9% of RWC Asset Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. RWC Asset Management LLP owned 0.76% of Lear worth $38,913,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lear by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,714,653 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $842,054,000 after acquiring an additional 526,763 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 24.3% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,264,090 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $137,975,000 after buying an additional 247,312 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,713,661 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $187,046,000 after acquiring an additional 206,822 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Lear by 7,452.3% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 173,855 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $16,129,000 after acquiring an additional 171,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its stake in Lear by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 595,615 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $56,405,000 after acquiring an additional 121,734 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE:LEA opened at $96.43 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $94.87 and a 200-day moving average of $101.39. 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.00.

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.