California State Teachers Retirement System Purchases 7,782,952 Shares of Lear Corporation $LEA

Key Points

• CalSTRS dramatically increased its Lear position by purchasing 7.78 million shares, bringing its ownership to approximately 15.9% of the company, valued at $1.05 billion. Institutional investors collectively own 97.04% of Lear.
• Lear reported quarterly EPS of $4.28, exceeding the $3.98 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 3% year over year to $6.21 billion. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, representing a 2.4% annualized yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Lear has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $147.08, compared with a recent share price near $131. Several analysts downgraded the stock, although TD Cowen upgraded it to “Buy” with a $165 target.

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 12,951.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,843,046 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,782,952 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 15.90% of Lear worth $1,051,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lear in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Lear in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Lear by 942.3% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 271 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. WealthCollab LLC acquired a new stake in Lear in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Lear by 62.6% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 309 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Lear

Here are the key news stories impacting Lear this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: The news feed contains no announcements concerning Lear Corporation’s earnings, vehicle-production outlook, contracts, restructuring, acquisitions, or analyst recommendations. The recent articles about Meta’s AI financing, education legislation, and unrelated personal-finance and entertainment topics are not directly relevant to LEA.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several headlines use “Lear” in references to Norman Lear or Shakespeare’s King Lear; these are unrelated to the automotive supplier and should not be interpreted as business news for Lear Corporation.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LEA shares. Weiss Ratings cut Lear from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Lear from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Lear in a report on Saturday, August 1st. TD Cowen upgraded Lear from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $165.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Lear from $137.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lear currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $147.08.

Lear Stock Performance

NYSE:LEA opened at $131.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Lear Corporation has a 1 year low of $96.04 and a 1 year high of $150.33.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The auto parts company reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.98 by $0.30. Lear had a return on equity of 14.18% and a net margin of 2.35%.The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.06 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Lear Corporation will post 14.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Lear's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Raymond Scott sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.37, for a total transaction of $6,768,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 49,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,739,936.93. The trade was a 50.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,646 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.35, for a total value of $199,742.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 37 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,489.95. This represents a 97.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lear Company Profile

Lear Corporation is a global automotive technology company that designs and manufactures systems and components used in passenger vehicles. Its business is organized primarily around two areas: seating and E-Systems. Lear supplies complete vehicle seating systems, including seats, structures, mechanisms, foam, covers and related components, as well as electrical distribution systems and other technologies that help manage power, data and connectivity within vehicles.

The company's E-Systems offerings include low- and high-voltage wiring systems, connection systems, battery and power-management solutions, electronic control modules, displays and software-enabled technologies.

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