Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 188,468 shares of the auto parts company's stock after buying an additional 3,942 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.35% of Lear worth $17,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Greenhaven Associates Inc. raised its position in Lear by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,842,247 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $174,461,000 after acquiring an additional 22,601 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Lear by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,713,661 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $187,046,000 after buying an additional 206,822 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lear by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,141,476 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $124,621,000 after buying an additional 44,128 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 6.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 715,788 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $78,128,000 after acquiring an additional 46,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Lear by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 676,977 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $64,110,000 after acquiring an additional 99,072 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.36.

Lear Trading Down 0.8 %

Lear stock traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $95.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 621,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 697,598. Lear Co. has a 1 year low of $86.28 and a 1 year high of $146.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a PE ratio of 10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. The stock's fifty day moving average is $95.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.58.

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

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Lear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.45%.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other news, Director Rod Lache acquired 2,178 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $199,940.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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.