Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Sold by Texas Permanent School Fund Corp

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp cut its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,916 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 413 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Lear were worth $7,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LEA. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Lear during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lear in the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in Lear during the first quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Lear during the fourth quarter valued at $75,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LEA shares. Barclays lowered their price target on Lear from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lear from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $150.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Lear from $136.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.63.

Lear Price Performance

LEA stock traded up $1.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $118.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 644,379. The stock has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.47. The company’s 50 day moving average is $121.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.57. Lear Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.26 and a fifty-two week high of $157.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 2.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 14.21 EPS for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.86, for a total transaction of $296,273.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,278 shares of Lear stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $159,174.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Greg C. Smith sold 2,392 shares of Lear stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.86, for a total transaction of $296,273.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.