Waterfront Wealth Inc. Increases Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

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

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prakash Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lear in the fourth quarter worth about $379,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Lear by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 414,009 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $39,207,000 after buying an additional 118,560 shares in the last quarter. Paradice Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lear by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Paradice Investment Management LLC now owns 293,254 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,771,000 after buying an additional 61,169 shares in the last quarter. GAM Holding AG bought a new stake in Lear during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,651,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lear by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,301 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lear Stock Up 0.5 %

Lear stock opened at $97.55 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $94.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.42. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $86.28 and a twelve month high of $147.11.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted 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 return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. On average, analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $127.00.

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.