Oldfield Partners LLP Acquires Shares of 609,824 Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA)

Key Points

• Oldfield Partners LLP has invested approximately $53.80 million in Lear Corporation, acquiring 609,824 shares, making Lear its second largest holding.
• Several major investors, including Assetmark Inc. and Diamond Hill Capital Management, increased their positions in Lear Corporation during the same quarter.
• Lear Corporation recently reported earnings of $3.47 per share, exceeding estimates, with a quarterly revenue of $6.03 billion amidst a marginal year-over-year increase.

Oldfield Partners LLP bought a new stake in Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 609,824 shares of the auto parts company's stock, valued at approximately $53,799,000. Lear accounts for about 15.7% of Oldfield Partners LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Oldfield Partners LLP owned about 1.14% of Lear at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LEA. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Lear by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 491 shares of the auto parts company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lear during the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Lear by 131.8% in the first 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 last quarter. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in shares of Lear during the first quarter worth $71,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Lear by 57.9% in the first 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. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In other news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,187 shares of the 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 sale, the director owned 84 shares in the company, valued at $7,800.24. This represents a 93.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Lear from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Lear from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 price target on Lear and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on Lear from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Lear from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $113.00.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LEA traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $98.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,082,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 691,629. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $96.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.95. The company has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.29. 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $73.85 and a 1 year high of $125.09.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 2.05% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lear Corporation will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Lear's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.11%.

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.