American International Group Inc. Sells 4,074 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

American International Group Inc. reduced its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 78,694 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 4,074 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Lear worth $11,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LEA. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Lear by 32.3% in the 4th 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. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Lear during the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Lear by 131.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 443 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Lear by 72.1% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 654 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Lear by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 755 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $159,174.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $159,174.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.86, for a total value of $296,273.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LEA. Citigroup reduced their target price on Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Lear from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Lear from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Lear from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.78.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEA opened at $115.82 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Lear Co. has a 12 month low of $114.43 and a 12 month high of $157.90. The company has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $128.82 and its 200 day moving average is $134.43.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.14. Lear had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 2.28%. The business had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 14.32 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.59%.

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.