Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 3,385 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 89.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,176 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 3,385 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Lear were worth $1,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advisor Partners II LLC increased its stake in Lear by 5.0% in the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 1,921 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Lear by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Lear by 4.5% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,152 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Lear by 4.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,975 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in Lear by 4.6% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lear Price Performance

NYSE:LEA opened at $136.47 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.35. Lear Co. has a 52 week low of $117.79 and a 52 week high of $157.90. The firm has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.83.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its 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). Lear had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The firm had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. Lear’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Lear

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.44.

Lear Company Profile

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.