Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Holdings Lowered by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 115,023 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 3,782 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Lear were worth $16,242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LEA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,912,006 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $793,391,000 after acquiring an additional 45,567 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Lear by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,896,871 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $254,560,000 after purchasing an additional 287,483 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,237,016 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $174,382,000 after purchasing an additional 149,958 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Lear by 236.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 577,690 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $77,526,000 after buying an additional 405,875 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Lear by 2.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 529,304 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $71,033,000 after buying an additional 13,248 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LEA. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on 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. boosted their target price on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their target price on Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.44.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEA opened at $137.25 on Tuesday. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $117.79 and a twelve month high of $157.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $138.83 and a 200-day moving average of $135.84. The firm has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.54.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.12 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 2.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.81 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 14.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Lear’s payout ratio is 31.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total value of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,627 shares in the company, valued at $1,810,483.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Lear 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.