RWC Asset Management LLP Invests $487,000 in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

RWC Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,451 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $487,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisor Partners II LLC lifted its position in shares of Lear by 5.0% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 1,921 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Lear by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lear by 4.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,975 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Lear by 4.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,152 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Lear by 4.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.44.

Lear Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of LEA stock traded up $2.99 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $136.47. 711,835 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 462,557. The business has a 50 day moving average of $138.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Lear Co. has a 52 week low of $117.79 and a 52 week high of $157.90. The company has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.54.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.12 by ($0.09). Lear had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 2.44%. The company had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s payout ratio is 31.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,627 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,483.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Lear news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction 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 corporate 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.