Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Bought by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 7.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,282 shares of the auto parts company's stock after buying an additional 9,774 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.27% of Lear worth $15,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lear by 18.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 196,829 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $21,015,000 after buying an additional 30,529 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Lear during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lear by 10.9% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,052 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Lear by 63.5% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,426 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Lear during the third quarter worth $1,886,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LEA traded down $2.80 during trading on Monday, reaching $95.55. 976,547 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 668,996. The stock has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.05, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.45. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $99.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Lear Co. has a 12-month low of $92.14 and a 12-month high of $147.11.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.52 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 2.33%. Lear's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.87 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Lear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LEA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Lear from $144.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and set a $132.00 price target on shares of Lear in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $106.00 to $99.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Lear from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $139.67.

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.