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

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) by 31.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LEA. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lear by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,507 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Lear by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 33,103 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $3,135,000 after buying an additional 13,281 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Lear by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 676,977 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $64,110,000 after acquiring an additional 99,072 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 68.2% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 77,691 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Stock Performance

Lear stock opened at $93.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.42. Lear Co. has a 1-year low of $86.28 and a 1-year high of $147.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $95.10 and a 200-day moving average of $101.05.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The auto parts company reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.44. Lear had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 2.17%. Sell-side 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 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 currently 34.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LEA shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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, UBS Group dropped their target price on Lear from $104.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.