California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Stock Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 115,023 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 3,782 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.20% of Lear worth $16,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LEA. CWM LLC lifted its position in Lear by 23.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Lear by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 24,375 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Lear by 336.6% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 63,448 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $8,515,000 after acquiring an additional 48,915 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lear by 4.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,975 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 15.7% during the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 39,700 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,328,000 after purchasing an additional 5,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total value of $1,415,224.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,810,483.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total transaction of $1,415,224.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,483.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total value of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,019.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Lear Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE LEA opened at $137.25 on Tuesday. Lear Co. has a 1 year low of $117.79 and a 1 year high of $157.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $138.83 and a 200 day moving average of $135.84. The stock has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.54.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.12 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 14.09%. Lear’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 14.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LEA shares. Benchmark boosted their price target on Lear from $188.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.44.

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.