Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 18,715 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 114.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,120 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,715 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Lear were worth $3,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LEA. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lear by 187.0% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Lear during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lear by 68.2% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Lear by 233.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 410 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Lear during the third quarter worth $50,000. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other news, Director Rod Lache purchased 2,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,940.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEA has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen downgraded Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lear currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.36.

Lear Price Performance

LEA stock opened at $95.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $95.55 and a 200-day moving average of $98.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Lear Co. has a 12 month low of $86.28 and a 12 month high of $146.19.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.45%.

About Lear

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.