HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 3,565 Shares of Lear Corporation $LEA

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Lear Corporation by 127.0%, acquiring an additional 3,565 shares, bringing its total holdings to 6,373 shares valued at $562,000.
• CEO Raymond E. Scott recently sold 5,000 shares at an average price of $96.77, reducing his ownership by 11.43% to 38,729 shares.
• Lear's stock has an average price target of $113.00, with analysts providing a mix of ratings, including four "Buy" and nine "Hold" ratings.

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 127.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,373 shares of the auto parts company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,565 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Lear were worth $562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lear by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 75,531 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $6,663,000 after buying an additional 7,800 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Lear in the 1st quarter worth approximately $11,474,000. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lear by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,030 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $1,414,000 after buying an additional 2,120 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its holdings in Lear by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 10,735 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $947,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Lear by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 371,181 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $32,746,000 after buying an additional 15,027 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on LEA. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Lear from $116.00 to $109.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lear from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Lear from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Lear from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lear has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $113.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,187 shares of Lear stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total value of $110,224.82. Following the transaction, the director owned 84 shares in the company, valued at $7,800.24. This trade represents a 93.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 5,000 shares of Lear stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.77, for a total transaction of $483,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 38,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,747,805.33. The trade was a 11.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,187 shares of company stock worth $1,086,425 in the last 90 days. 0.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of Lear stock traded down $0.71 on Wednesday, hitting $108.54. 211,831 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 695,362. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $102.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.34. Lear Corporation has a 12-month low of $73.85 and a 12-month high of $115.47.

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

Lear Dividend Announcement

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

Lear 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.