Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Holdings Increased by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188,468 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after buying an additional 3,942 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.35% of Lear worth $17,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LEA. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lear by 39.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,221 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,316,000 after buying an additional 6,055 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lear by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 45,998 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,021,000 after buying an additional 8,937 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lear by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,570 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 1,396 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lear in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,946,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,713,661 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $187,046,000 after purchasing an additional 206,822 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of LEA opened at $94.23 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $95.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.02. Lear Co. has a 52 week low of $86.28 and a 52 week high of $147.11. The company has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.54, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44. 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 (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is 34.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on LEA shares. Cowen downgraded shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lear currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lear news, Director Rod Lache bought 2,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $91.80 per share, with a total value of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,940.40. The trade was a ? increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.