Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Sells 1,034 Shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 31.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,301 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 1,034 shares during the quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lear were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LEA. RWC Asset Management LLP boosted its stake in Lear by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 410,908 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $38,913,000 after purchasing an additional 77,691 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Lear by 9.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,049 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $14,742,000 after buying an additional 12,094 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Lear by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 39,465 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,759,000 after buying an additional 5,711 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lear in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,946,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in Lear by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 144,282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $15,748,000 after acquiring an additional 9,774 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lear Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE LEA opened at $93.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.42. Lear Co. has a one year low of $86.28 and a one year high of $147.11. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $95.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.05.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LEA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of 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 note on Thursday, December 19th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Lear from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lear currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.00.

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.