Eagle Global Advisors LLC Acquires 7,800 Shares of Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA)

Key Points

• Eagle Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lear Corporation by 11.5% in Q1, now owning 75,531 shares valued at approximately $6.66 million, indicating growing institutional interest.
• Analysts have mixed views on Lear's stock, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target of $113.00, while JPMorgan Chase raised their target to $120.00.
• Lear Corporation reported better than expected earnings of $3.47 per share on revenues of $6.03 billion for the last quarter, beating analyst expectations and showing a minor year-over-year revenue growth.

Eagle Global Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 11.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 75,531 shares of the auto parts company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,800 shares during the quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC owned 0.14% of Lear worth $6,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LEA. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Lear in the 1st quarter valued at $11,474,000. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lear by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,030 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $1,414,000 after purchasing an additional 2,120 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 2.3% in the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 10,735 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $947,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Lear by 4.2% during the first 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. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Lear by 14.2% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,401 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,187 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 84 shares in the company, valued at $7,800.24. This trade represents a 93.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 5,000 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 38,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,747,805.33. This trade represents a 11.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,187 shares of company stock worth $1,086,425. Insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEA traded up $0.19 on Thursday, reaching $103.42. 571,743 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 716,061. Lear Corporation has a twelve month low of $73.85 and a twelve month high of $119.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $98.10 and a 200-day moving average of $93.10. The company has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.89 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 2.05%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.60 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Lear Corporation will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Lear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on LEA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 target price on shares of Lear and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Lear from $116.00 to $109.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Lear from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $113.00.

Lear Company 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.