Great Lakes Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Lear Corporation $LEA

Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 22,355 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,997,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Lear by 5,205.1% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,268 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 7,131 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in Lear in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Lear in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $256,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lear by 37.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 968 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Lear by 9.5% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,296 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lear

In related news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.37, for a total transaction of $6,768,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 49,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,739,936.93. This trade represents a 50.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.35, for a total value of $199,742.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 37 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,489.95. This represents a 97.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 61,336 shares of company stock worth $8,367,727. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LEA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Lear from $153.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Lear from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Lear in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Lear from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.23.

Key Stories Impacting Lear

Here are the key news stories impacting Lear this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Positive growth outlook: Zacks highlighted Lear as a strong growth stock through its Style Scores framework, supporting investor interest in the auto-parts supplier. The company’s latest reported quarter also showed an earnings beat, revenue above expectations, 3% year-over-year sales growth and substantially higher EPS than the prior-year period. Here’s Why Lear (LEA) is a Strong Growth Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: No additional material company news: The remaining recent articles cover online education, personal finance, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and real estate, with no apparent operational, financial or strategic updates involving Lear Corporation.

Lear Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of LEA opened at $125.09 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $134.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.37. The company has a market capitalization of $6.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Lear Corporation has a 1-year low of $96.04 and a 1-year high of $150.33.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The auto parts company reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by $0.30. Lear had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 14.18%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.06 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lear Corporation will post 14.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 2nd. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.70%.

Lear Company Profile

Lear Corporation (NYSE: LEA) is a global supplier of automotive seating and electrical distribution systems. The company designs, engineers and manufactures complete seat systems, seat components and power solutions for major vehicle manufacturers. Its electrical business delivers modules and components for battery management, infotainment, body and safety electronics, as well as advanced connectivity and electrification solutions.

The seating division develops lightweight, ergonomic seat structures, trim and mechanisms that address comfort, safety and environmental targets.