Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,560,000 shares, a decrease of 20.0% from the December 31st total of 3,200,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 759,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Currently, 4.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lear

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LEA. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 187.0% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Lear during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 240.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 303 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Lear by 71.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Lear by 233.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 410 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LEA. Bank of America cut their price objective on Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.18.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE LEA traded down $2.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $94.12. The company had a trading volume of 768,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 549,846. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.33. Lear has a 1-year low of $90.03 and a 1-year high of $147.11. The company has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a PE ratio of 9.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day moving average of $96.03 and a 200-day moving average of $103.99.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.39%.

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.