Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $17.85 Million Stock Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 188,468 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,942 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Lear were worth $17,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 187.0% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lear by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Lear during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Lear by 233.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 410 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Lear during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen cut shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Cowen cut shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.36.

Lear Stock Down 1.6 %

LEA opened at $94.23 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.32. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $86.28 and a twelve month high of $147.11. The firm has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.54, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rod Lache acquired 2,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at $199,940.40. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.