Lear Corporation $LEA Shares Acquired by Quarry LP

Key Points

• Quarry LP significantly increased its stake in Lear Corporation by 1,315.2%, now owning 3,255 shares valued at $287,000.
• Analyst ratings for Lear Corporation are mixed, with four analysts rating it as a Buy while nine have issued a Hold rating; the current consensus target price is $113.00.
• Lear Corporation recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.8% and a payout ratio of 35.94%.

Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA - Free Report) by 1,315.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,255 shares of the auto parts company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,025 shares during the quarter. Quarry LP's holdings in Lear were worth $287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Lear during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lear during the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Lear by 131.8% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 765 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the period. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in Lear during the first quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Lear by 57.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 938 shares of the auto parts company's stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.04% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction, the director directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 5,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 20,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,993,426.68. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,187 shares of company stock worth $1,086,425 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on LEA. Bank of America increased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Lear from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lear from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Lear from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Lear from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $113.00.

Lear Price Performance

Shares of Lear stock traded down $1.67 on Wednesday, hitting $108.35. The company had a trading volume of 829,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 464,751. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.28. 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 company has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.64, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.34. Lear Corporation has a 52 week low of $73.85 and a 52 week high of $115.47.

Lear (NYSE:LEA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business 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 business's revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.60 earnings per share. Lear has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts expect that Lear Corporation will post 12.89 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 35.94%.

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.