New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Invests $3.87 Million in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 40,873 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,871,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RWC Asset Management LLP lifted its position in shares of Lear by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 410,908 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $38,913,000 after acquiring an additional 77,691 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Lear by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,216 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $873,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 9.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,049 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $14,742,000 after purchasing an additional 12,094 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted 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 valued at $3,759,000 after purchasing an additional 5,711 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Lear by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 676,977 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $64,110,000 after purchasing an additional 99,072 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA stock opened at $87.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.82, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. 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 fifty-two week low of $86.28 and a fifty-two week high of $145.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $95.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.36.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. Analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s payout ratio is 34.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Cowen lowered Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In related news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,940.40. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Lear Company 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.