Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) Shares Bought by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,507 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Lear were worth $711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Lear by 7.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,133 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $560,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 6,533 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Lear by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 43,949 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $4,797,000 after purchasing an additional 5,255 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Lear by 30.7% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,385 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Lear by 30.9% during the third quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,384 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.09.

Lear Price Performance

LEA stock opened at $89.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Lear Co. has a 52-week low of $86.28 and a 52-week high of $147.11. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.61.

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

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.