Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $9.66 Million Holdings in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 635.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,392 shares of the auto parts company's stock after acquiring an additional 59,095 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned 0.12% of Lear worth $9,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Lear by 236.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 577,690 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $77,526,000 after buying an additional 405,875 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Lear by 17.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,896,871 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $254,560,000 after purchasing an additional 287,483 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Lear by 643.7% during the third quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 243,007 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $32,612,000 after purchasing an additional 210,333 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 20.1% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,087,058 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $146,057,000 after buying an additional 182,241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lear in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $17,358,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Lear Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of LEA stock traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $131.71. The company had a trading volume of 488,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 570,934. The company has a 50 day moving average of $137.36 and a 200 day moving average of $135.53. The firm has a market cap of $7.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Lear Co. has a 1-year low of $120.48 and a 1-year high of $157.90.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.14. Lear had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The business had revenue of $5.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.78 EPS. Lear's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Lear's payout ratio is presently 33.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,465,019.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on LEA shares. Citigroup cut their target price on Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lear from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lowered their price target on Lear from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lear from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $161.44.

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.