Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Increases Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 30.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,725 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,101 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Lear were worth $2,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Lear in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Lear in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Lear by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Lear in the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Lear in the first quarter valued at $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on LEA shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Lear from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. StockNews.com cut Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Lear from $139.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Lear from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Lear from $141.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lear presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $157.80.

Insider Transactions at Lear

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

Lear Stock Up 1.4 %

LEA traded up $1.60 on Monday, hitting $119.79. 712,541 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 655,138. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $112.26 and a twelve month high of $157.90. The company has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $120.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $130.63.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.14. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 14.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.59%.

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.