Retirement Systems of Alabama Acquires 9,774 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 7.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 144,282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,774 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Lear were worth $15,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEA. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Lear by 151.9% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,049 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 3,648 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Lear in the 2nd quarter valued at about $663,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lear in the second quarter valued at about $222,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Lear during the second quarter worth about $1,388,000. Finally, Perennial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 9.1% in the second quarter. Perennial Advisors LLC now owns 32,912 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,759,000 after acquiring an additional 2,746 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lear Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:LEA opened at $98.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.33. Lear Co. has a 52-week low of $92.14 and a 52-week high of $147.11. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.55. The firm has a market cap of $5.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.34, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.45.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The auto parts company reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 2.33%. Lear’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.87 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Lear’s payout ratio is presently 32.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on LEA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $132.00 target price on shares of Lear in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $142.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Lear from $114.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays downgraded Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lear has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.25.

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.