Insider Selling: Lear (NYSE:LEA) CFO Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA) CFO Jason Cardew sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.17, for a total value of $590,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 15,244 shares in the company, valued at $1,801,383.48. This represents a 24.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Lear Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE LEA traded up $1.05 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $117.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 390,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 694,290. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Lear Corporation has a 1 year low of $73.85 and a 1 year high of $118.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $102.63.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The auto parts company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.63 billion. Lear had a net margin of 1.92% and a return on equity of 13.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Lear Corporation will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 10th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is 37.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lear in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America cut shares of Lear from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $135.00 to $123.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Lear from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lear from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Lear in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lear

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LEA. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lear by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 13,846 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Lear by 34.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 422 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Lear by 62.6% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 309 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lear by 2.0% in the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,158 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $585,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lear by 2.6% during the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 6,961 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

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.