AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 470,096 Shares of Lear Corporation $LEA

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Lear Corporation by 483.4% during the first quarter, now owning over 1.06% of Lear's shares worth approximately $49.6 million.
• The majority of Lear Corporation's stock, approximately 97.04%, is owned by institutional investors, including significant increases in holdings by American Century Companies Inc. and Millennium Management LLC.
• Lear has reported a positive earnings performance with $3.47 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share.

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 483.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 567,335 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 470,096 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.06% of Lear worth $49,625,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LEA. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lear by 24.6% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,874 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $518,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in Lear in the first quarter valued at about $9,291,000. Perbak Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Lear during the 1st quarter valued at $332,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Lear by 1,315.2% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,255 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 3,025 shares during the period. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lear during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lear

In other Lear news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 20,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,993,426.68. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 of the company's stock, valued at $7,800.24. The trade was a 93.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,187 shares of company stock valued at $1,086,425. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America downgraded shares of Lear from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $123.00 in a report on Wednesday. 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. Wall Street Zen cut Lear from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Lear from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Lear from $102.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.70.

Lear Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of LEA stock traded down $3.50 on Friday, hitting $105.68. 838,920 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 517,673. 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $104.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.34. Lear Corporation has a one year low of $73.85 and a one year high of $115.47.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.60 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Lear has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Lear Corporation will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. Lear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.94%.

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.