Waterfront Wealth Inc. Raises Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Waterfront Wealth Inc. increased its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 20.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,059 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,530 shares during the period. Waterfront Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Lear were worth $1,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prakash Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lear in the 4th quarter worth $379,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its position in Lear by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 414,009 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $39,207,000 after purchasing an additional 118,560 shares during the period. Paradice Investment Management LLC grew its position in Lear by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Paradice Investment Management LLC now owns 293,254 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,771,000 after purchasing an additional 61,169 shares during the period. GAM Holding AG acquired a new stake in Lear during the 4th quarter worth about $1,651,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Lear by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,301 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.00.

Lear Trading Up 0.5 %

LEA opened at $97.55 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. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.59. Lear Co. has a 1-year low of $86.28 and a 1-year high of $147.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.42.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share 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%. Analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s payout ratio is presently 34.45%.

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.