LPL Financial LLC Cuts Stock Position in Lear Corporation $LEA

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC has reduced its position in Lear Corporation by 12.9%, owning 16,330 shares valued at approximately $1.44 million after selling 2,424 shares in the first quarter.
• Analyst ratings for Lear include a price objective increase from $110 to $115 by Bank of America, and the current consensus rating is "Hold" with an average target price of $113.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77 to be paid on September 23rd, reflecting an annualized dividend of $3.08 and a yield of 2.8%.

LPL Financial LLC lowered its holdings in Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 12.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,330 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 2,424 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Lear were worth $1,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LEA. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lear during the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Lear by 131.8% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 765 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the period. CX Institutional bought a new stake in shares of Lear during the 1st quarter valued at $71,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Lear by 57.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 938 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lear by 46.6% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 966 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 price objective on Lear and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Lear from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Lear from $116.00 to $109.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Lear from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Lear from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Four 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $113.00.

Insider Activity

In related 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 stock was sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total transaction of $110,224.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 84 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,800.24. This trade represents a 93.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $492,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,187 shares of company stock worth $1,086,425 in the last quarter. 0.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of Lear stock opened at $108.4470 on Friday. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $73.85 and a 12 month high of $119.10. The business's 50-day moving average price is $99.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.52. 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 issued its earnings results 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. Lear had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 2.05%.The company had revenue of $6.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.60 EPS. Lear's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Lear has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lear Corporation will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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.

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