Petrus Trust Company LTA Cuts Stake in Lear Corporation $LEA

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA reduced its stake in Lear Corporation by 32.4% in Q1 2023, now holding 5,932 shares worth $523,000 after selling 2,843 shares.
• Insider trades included CEO Raymond E. Scott selling 5,000 shares for approximately $483,850, resulting in an 11.43% decrease in his holdings.
• Analysts have mixed views on Lear Corporation, with Morgan Stanley lowering its price target from $125 to $115, while others, like Barclays, raised theirs to $120, reflecting cautious optimism.

Petrus Trust Company LTA cut its position in Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 32.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,932 shares of the auto parts company's stock after selling 2,843 shares during the period. Petrus Trust Company LTA's holdings in Lear were worth $523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lear during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lear during the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional purchased a new position in shares of Lear in the first quarter worth $71,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 57.9% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Lear

In related news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,187 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 84 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,800.24. This represents a 93.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 5,000 shares of Lear stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.47, for a total transaction of $492,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 20,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,993,426.68. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,187 shares of company stock worth $1,086,425. 0.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LEA traded down $1.51 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $111.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 683,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 480,536. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $103.95 and a 200-day moving average of $94.66. Lear Corporation has a 12 month low of $73.85 and a 12 month high of $115.47.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.47 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.60 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Lear has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lear Corporation will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LEA shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lear from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Lear from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Lear from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Lear from $102.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $113.73.

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.