Northern Trust Corp Reduces Stock Position in Lear Corporation $LEA

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in Lear Corporation by 0.5%, owning 497,993 shares worth approximately $43.93 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Lear Corporation reported an EPS of $3.47 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates of $3.23, with revenues of $6.03 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.77 per share, with an ex-dividend date of September 3rd, reflecting a 2.8% yield.

Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in shares of Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 497,993 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 2,515 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.93% of Lear worth $43,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LEA. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lear during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted 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 buying an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional purchased a new stake in shares of Lear during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $71,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Lear by 955.2% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,108 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lear Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of LEA stock traded down $0.39 on Tuesday, hitting $109.61. 261,967 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 696,151. 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 $116.29. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $102.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.33.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last released its 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 company had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.60 EPS. The firm'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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Lear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Lear from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Lear from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lear from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Lear from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $113.00.

Insider Activity at Lear

In other Lear news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 20,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,993,426.68. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.77, for a total transaction of $483,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 38,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders have sold 11,187 shares of company stock valued at $1,086,425. 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.