Kendall Capital Management Reduces Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Kendall Capital Management trimmed its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA – Get Rating) by 22.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,276 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 1,257 shares during the period. Kendall Capital Management’s holdings in Lear were worth $512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LEA. Credit Suisse AG lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 39.2% in the second quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 84,392 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $10,624,000 after purchasing an additional 23,775 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 10.8% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 175,881 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $22,142,000 after purchasing an additional 17,118 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 9.5% in the second quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,606 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Ltd acquired a new position in Lear during the second quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. raised its position in Lear by 11.5% during the second quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 6,551 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $825,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. 99.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $139.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Lear from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Lear from $140.00 to $133.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 2nd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Lear in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Lear from $155.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.38.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of Lear stock traded down $1.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $136.73. The company had a trading volume of 2,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 354,819. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $134.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.04. The stock has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a PE ratio of 35.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Lear Co. has a 1-year low of $114.67 and a 1-year high of $191.24.

Lear (NYSE:LEA – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 1st. The auto parts company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.13 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 9.21% and a net margin of 1.14%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 7th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.79%.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In related news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.45, for a total transaction of $69,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,168,012.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Thomas A. Didonato sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.03, for a total value of $167,739.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.45, for a total value of $69,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 22,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,168,012.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,970 shares of company stock worth $5,216,989 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

About Lear

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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.

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