Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Reduces Position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp cut its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,689 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 7,227 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp owned approximately 0.08% of Lear worth $4,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Lear during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Lear during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Lear during the first quarter valued at about $62,000. Isthmus Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Lear by 2.1% during the second quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 64,398 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in Lear during the fourth quarter valued at about $75,000. 97.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $132.00 price target on shares of Lear in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup decreased their price target on Lear from $141.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Barclays decreased their price target on Lear from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Lear from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Lear from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lear has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.40.

Lear Stock Up 0.6 %

LEA stock opened at $104.03 on Friday. Lear Co. has a 1-year low of $101.67 and a 1-year high of $147.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company’s 50 day moving average is $114.95 and its 200 day moving average is $125.24. The stock has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.45.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.26. Lear had a net margin of 2.30% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.02 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Lear Co. will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Lear’s payout ratio is currently 33.59%.

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.