Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Lear Corporation $LEA

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lear Corporation by 38.3% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 149,644 shares. The firm now owns approximately 1.01% of Lear's stock, valued at $47.675 million.
• Lear reported an EPS of $3.47 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.24, with revenue of $6.03 billion, up 0.3% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.8%, scheduled for payment on September 23rd.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 38.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 540,411 shares of the auto parts company's stock after acquiring an additional 149,644 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned about 1.01% of Lear worth $47,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Lear by 3,542.5% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 2,586 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Lear by 53.0% during the 1st quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 74,412 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $6,565,000 after buying an additional 25,775 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Lear by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,589 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 880 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Lear by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 36,489 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $3,219,000 after buying an additional 4,983 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Lear by 105.7% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 710,962 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $62,721,000 after buying an additional 365,382 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Lear Trading Up 5.2%

NYSE LEA opened at $108.4470 on Friday. Lear Corporation has a one year low of $73.85 and a one year high of $119.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Lear Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on LEA. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Lear from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lear from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Lear from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lear currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $113.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other Lear news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.47, for a total transaction of $492,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 20,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,993,426.68. The trade was a 19.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,187 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total transaction of $110,224.82. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 84 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,800.24. The trade was a 93.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,187 shares of company stock valued at $1,086,425 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

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.

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