Alberta Investment Management Corp Buys 118,560 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 40.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 414,009 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 118,560 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Lear were worth $39,207,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 9.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,049 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $14,742,000 after purchasing an additional 12,094 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 39,465 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,759,000 after acquiring an additional 5,711 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Lear in the third quarter worth $1,946,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Lear by 7.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 144,282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $15,748,000 after acquiring an additional 9,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lear by 39.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,221 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,316,000 after buying an additional 6,055 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE LEA opened at $98.55 on Wednesday. Lear Co. has a 1-year low of $86.28 and a 1-year high of $147.11. The company has a market cap of $5.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.65.

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

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors 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 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s payout ratio is currently 34.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LEA has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.00.

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.