Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Buys 9,290 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,324 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,290 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.21% of Lear worth $10,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lakewood Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lear by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 9,957 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $943,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lear in the 4th quarter worth $2,782,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Lear by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 39,465 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,759,000 after acquiring an additional 5,711 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Lear during the 4th quarter worth $277,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Lear by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 144,282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $15,748,000 after buying an additional 9,774 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA stock opened at $94.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Lear Co. has a 52-week low of $90.03 and a 52-week high of $147.11.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.32. Lear had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.87 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. Lear’s payout ratio is currently 32.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LEA shares. Barclays downgraded Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Lear from $106.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Lear from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.18.

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.