Lear Corporation $LEA Shares Sold by Candriam S.C.A.

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. reduced its stake in Lear Corporation by 52.3%, owning 16,138 shares worth $1.42 million after selling 17,680 shares in the first quarter.
• Lear Corporation reported an EPS of $3.47 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and achieving a slight revenue increase of 0.3% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 2.8%.

Candriam S.C.A. trimmed its holdings in Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 52.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,138 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 17,680 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings in Lear were worth $1,424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lear in the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Lear by 131.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 765 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional purchased a new position in shares of Lear in the 1st quarter worth about $71,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 57.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 938 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lear by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 966 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lear Stock Performance

Lear stock opened at $108.4470 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $99.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.34. Lear Corporation has a one year low of $73.85 and a one year high of $119.10.

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

Lear Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lear news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 5,000 shares of Lear stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 38,729 shares in the company, valued at $3,747,805.33. The trade was a 11.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 5,000 shares of Lear stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 20,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,993,426.68. This represents a 19.81% 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 worth $1,086,425 in the last three months. 0.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Lear from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Lear from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Lear from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Lear from $116.00 to $109.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $113.00.

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.

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