American Century Companies Inc. Increases Stock Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 310.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 345,580 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 261,390 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.64% of Lear worth $32,726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LEA. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lear by 187.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lear by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Lear during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 233.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 410 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Lear in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lear Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Lear stock opened at $87.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $86.28 and a fifty-two week high of $145.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $95.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.36.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. Analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,940.40. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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 lowered their price target 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. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lear has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.36.

Lear Company 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.