Everence Capital Management Inc. Invests $277,000 in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,920 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Lear during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 70.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 266 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Lear during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Lear by 240.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 303 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Lear by 71.6% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:LEA opened at $94.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 9.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s 50 day moving average is $96.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Lear Co. has a 52 week low of $91.20 and a 52 week high of $147.11.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.33% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.87 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.18.

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.