Swiss National Bank Has $10.47 Million Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Swiss National Bank lowered its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 110,600 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Lear were worth $10,474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Lear by 24.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,264,090 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $137,975,000 after purchasing an additional 247,312 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Lear by 13.7% during the third 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 during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Lear by 7,452.3% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 173,855 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $16,129,000 after purchasing an additional 171,553 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its position in Lear by 25.7% during 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. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its position in Lear by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 414,009 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $39,207,000 after purchasing an additional 118,560 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lear news, Director Rod Lache bought 2,178 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $91.80 per share, for a total transaction of $199,940.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,178 shares in the company, valued at $199,940.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LEA shares. StockNews.com raised Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Cowen cut Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Lear from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.36.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LEA opened at $95.78 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.17. Lear Co. has a one year low of $86.28 and a one year high of $147.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.44.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. Sell-side analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.45%.

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.