Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Stock Holdings Increased by Utah Retirement Systems

Utah Retirement Systems increased its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA – Get Rating) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,743 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Utah Retirement Systems’ holdings in Lear were worth $1,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Old North State Trust LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lear in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lear by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Lear by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 545 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lear in the third quarter valued at $72,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 43.0% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 612 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 6,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.59, for a total transaction of $783,657.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 16,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,135,856.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Lear news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 6,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.59, for a total value of $783,657.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 16,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,135,856.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Carl A. Esposito sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.00, for a total value of $1,136,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,415 shares in the company, valued at $2,756,930. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,060 shares of company stock valued at $3,705,593. 0.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TheStreet raised Lear from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Lear in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. Cowen upped their price target on shares of Lear from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $139.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Lear in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.38.

Lear Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Lear stock opened at $135.06 on Monday. Lear Co. has a 12-month low of $114.67 and a 12-month high of $158.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $138.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.69, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.53.

Lear (NYSE:LEA – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The auto parts company reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. Lear had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 11.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 9th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is 56.31%.

About Lear

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Lear Corp. engages in the design, manufacture and supply of automotive seats, electrical distribution systems and electronic modules, as well as related sub-systems, components, and software. It operates through the following segments: Seating and E-Systems. The Seating segment consists of the design, engineering, just-in-time assembly and delivery of complete seat systems, as well as the manufacture of all major seat components, including seat covers and surface materials such as leather and fabric, seat structures and mechanisms, seat foam and headrests.