Lear Corporation $LEA Shares Bought by AlphaQuest LLC

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC significantly increased its stake in Lear Corporation by 3,542.5%, now owning 2,659 shares worth $235,000.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Lear Corporation, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target of $113.00.
• Recently, Lear announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 2.8% and a payout ratio of 35.94%.

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 3,542.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,659 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,586 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Lear were worth $235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Lear by 88.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,249 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $640,000 after buying an additional 3,409 shares during the period. Eagle Global Advisors LLC increased its position in Lear by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 75,531 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $6,663,000 after purchasing an additional 7,800 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in Lear by 62.3% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 26,283 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $2,318,000 after purchasing an additional 10,085 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Lear by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 513,408 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $45,293,000 after purchasing an additional 17,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Lear by 34.9% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 39,622 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $3,495,000 after purchasing an additional 10,249 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Lear from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Lear from $116.00 to $109.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup increased their target price on Lear from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 target price on Lear and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $113.00.

Lear Stock Performance

LEA traded down $1.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $108.10. 248,294 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 695,583. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.19. Lear Corporation has a 12 month low of $73.85 and a 12 month high of $115.47. The stock has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.24. Lear had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 2.05%.The firm had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.89 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Lear has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts anticipate that Lear Corporation will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Lear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lear news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.47, for a total value of $492,350.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 20,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,993,426.68. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.77, for a total value of $483,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 38,729 shares in the company, valued at $3,747,805.33. This represents a 11.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,187 shares of company stock valued at $1,086,425 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

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.