Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA) Shares Sold by Alberta Investment Management Corp

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp reduced its stake in Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA) by 12.9%, owning 360,649 shares after selling 53,360 shares in the first quarter of the year.
• Several other hedge funds have also modified their positions in Lear, with Quadrant Capital Group increasing its investment by 51.1% during the fourth quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on Lear, with nine analysts rating it as a "hold" and one assigning a "strong buy" rating, while the consensus price target is $113.00.

Alberta Investment Management Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 12.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 360,649 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 53,360 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned about 0.67% of Lear worth $31,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Lear by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 6,785 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $599,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Lear by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 491 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Lear by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,709 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in Lear by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,591 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Lear by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,573 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,187 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total transaction of $110,224.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 84 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,800.24. This represents a 93.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.77, for a total value of $483,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 38,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,747,805.33. The trade was a 11.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,187 shares of company stock valued at $1,086,425 over the last quarter. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lear Price Performance

NYSE LEA traded down $1.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $93.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 531,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 728,866. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.30. Lear Corporation has a 1-year low of $73.85 and a 1-year high of $119.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company's 50-day moving average is $96.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.99.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.89 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 2.05%. Lear's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Lear Corporation will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Lear's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on LEA. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Lear from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. UBS Group dropped their price target on Lear from $116.00 to $109.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Lear from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on Lear from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 price target on Lear and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $113.00.

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.