Federated Hermes Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,807 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Lear were worth $1,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lear by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,996 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,694,000 after purchasing an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Lear by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 2,439 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its holdings in Lear by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 13,676 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,931,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Lear by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 175,839 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $24,830,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lear during the 4th quarter valued at $294,000. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Lear

In related news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Lear news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,019.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.44.

Lear Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE LEA opened at $136.47 on Monday. Lear Co. has a one year low of $117.79 and a one year high of $157.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.54.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.12 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.82%.

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.