Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Stock Position Lowered by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 20.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,579 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 2,900 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Lear were worth $1,635,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Lear by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,237,016 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $174,382,000 after acquiring an additional 149,958 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Lear in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,356,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Lear in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,316,000. Lakewood Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Lear by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 9,995 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,411,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of Lear by 36.7% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 273,942 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $36,763,000 after purchasing an additional 73,559 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other Lear news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the business’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 directly owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,019.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 owned by insiders.

Lear Price Performance

NYSE:LEA opened at $135.15 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $138.89 and a 200-day moving average of $135.87. The company has a market capitalization of $7.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.54. Lear Co. has a 52 week low of $117.79 and a 52 week 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.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.12 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.09% and a net margin of 2.44%. Lear’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 14.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Lear’s payout ratio is 31.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LEA. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.44.

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.