Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 124,609 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 5,617 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Lear worth $11,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 9.8% in the 3rd 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 period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 5,711 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lear during the third quarter worth about $1,946,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 7.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 144,282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $15,748,000 after purchasing an additional 9,774 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 39.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,221 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,316,000 after purchasing an additional 6,055 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. 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, Barclays lowered their price objective on Lear from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lear has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.00.

Lear Stock Down 0.8 %

LEA stock opened at $96.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.79, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $86.28 and a twelve month high of $147.11. The company’s 50 day moving average is $95.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.15.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts expect that Lear Co. will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.45%.

About Lear

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.