State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Stock Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,285 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 3,153 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Lear were worth $3,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Lear by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lear during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 131.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 443 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 622 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 873 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays raised their price target on Lear from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Lear from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Five investment 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.44.

Insider Transactions at Lear

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

Lear Stock Up 2.2 %

LEA stock opened at $136.45 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $138.81 and its 200 day moving average is $135.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.54. Lear Co. has a one year low of $117.79 and a one year high of $157.90.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.12 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.69 billion. Lear had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 14.09%. Lear’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.81 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 14.51 EPS for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.82%.

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.