Creative Planning Lowers Stake in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 19th, 2023

Creative Planning lowered its stake in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA – Free Report) by 20.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,653 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 940 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Lear were worth $524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its position in Lear by 77.0% in the 1st quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 5,392 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $752,000 after purchasing an additional 2,345 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Lear by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 36,877 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $5,144,000 after purchasing an additional 5,879 shares during the period. Lakewood Asset Management LLC raised its position in Lear by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 8,741 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $1,219,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS raised its position in Lear by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 15,272 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $2,130,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in Lear by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 32,981 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $4,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Trading Down 2.9 %

LEA stock opened at $132.24 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.59. Lear Co. has a 12 month low of $117.79 and a 12 month high of $157.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $138.74 and its 200 day moving average is $138.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Lear (NYSE:LEA – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The auto parts company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.12. Lear had a net margin of 2.32% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The company had revenue of $6 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lear Co. will post 11.83 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 31st were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 30th. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LEA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Lear from $169.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Barclays raised shares of Lear from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $177.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 12th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Lear in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Lear from $164.00 to $142.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 3rd. Finally, Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Lear from $182.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $159.55.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Lear

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lear news, SVP Carl A. Esposito sold 10,310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $1,598,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,411,275. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of Lear stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.57, for a total transaction of $416,817.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,045,134.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Carl A. Esposito sold 10,310 shares of Lear stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $1,598,050.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,411,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,392 shares of company stock valued at $3,931,260. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lear Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.