Cozad Asset Management Inc. Has $494,000 Stock Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 55.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,495 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Lear were worth $494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Lear by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lear during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 131.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 443 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 622 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 873 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEA has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup cut their price objective on Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Lear from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.44.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LEA opened at $124.29 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business’s 50 day moving average is $138.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.77. The company has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.55. Lear Co. has a 12 month low of $117.79 and a 12 month high of $157.90.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $5.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 2.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 14.51 EPS for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,627 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,483.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,019.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total value of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.