Norges Bank Invests $31.88 Million in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 336,655 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,881,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 187.0% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lear by 68.2% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Lear by 233.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 410 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Lear by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 427 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Lear during the third quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Lear from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen cut Lear from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rod Lache bought 2,178 shares of Lear stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the director now owns 2,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,940.40. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Lear Stock Down 1.1 %

Lear stock opened at $81.43 on Friday. Lear Co. has a one year low of $77.23 and a one year high of $144.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.43 and a 200 day moving average of $97.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.34.

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

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.45%.

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.