Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 67.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,103 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,281 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.06% of Lear worth $3,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lear by 7.3% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,714,653 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $842,054,000 after buying an additional 526,763 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,264,090 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $137,975,000 after acquiring an additional 247,312 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Lear by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,713,661 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $187,046,000 after acquiring an additional 206,822 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Lear by 7,452.3% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 173,855 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $16,129,000 after acquiring an additional 171,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP increased its stake in Lear by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 595,615 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $56,405,000 after purchasing an additional 121,734 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lear Trading Down 0.8 %

LEA opened at $97.19 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.42. Lear Co. has a 12 month low of $86.28 and a 12 month high of $147.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $95.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.19.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 14.70%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. Lear’s payout ratio is 34.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LEA shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.00.

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.