Kendall Capital Management Grows Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Kendall Capital Management increased its position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 28.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,505 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,129 shares during the quarter. Kendall Capital Management’s holdings in Lear were worth $900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lear by 68.2% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Lear in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Lear by 233.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 410 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Lear in the third quarter valued at about $50,000. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.36.

Lear Price Performance

LEA stock opened at $98.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Lear Co. has a one year low of $86.28 and a one year high of $147.11. The stock has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.32.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released 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 net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. On average, analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.45%.

Insider Activity

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 acquired at an average price of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,940.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is 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.