Teacher Retirement System of Texas Grows Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 114.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,120 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 18,715 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.06% of Lear worth $3,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lear by 44.0% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,570 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 467,863 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $51,067,000 after purchasing an additional 12,379 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in Lear by 8.2% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,662 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in shares of Lear by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 20,948 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 5,967 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Lear during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In related news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,940.40. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Cowen cut Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.36.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA stock opened at $95.84 on Wednesday. Lear Co. has a one year low of $86.28 and a one year high of $146.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $95.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.58.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s payout ratio is 34.45%.

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.