Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA) Shares Sold by Clark Estates Inc. NY

Clark Estates Inc. NY lessened its stake in shares of Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA) by 27.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,941 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 8,759 shares during the quarter. Clark Estates Inc. NY’s holdings in Lear were worth $2,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Lear by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,614,227 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $247,566,000 after acquiring an additional 283,838 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Lear by 6.6% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,358,330 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $208,052,000 after purchasing an additional 145,751 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Lear by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,133,186 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $107,313,000 after purchasing an additional 356,760 shares in the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Lear by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,056,694 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $100,069,000 after purchasing an additional 29,370 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lear by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 903,723 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $85,583,000 after purchasing an additional 187,935 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.04% of the company’s stock.

Lear Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:LEA opened at $96.40 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $96.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.34. Lear Corporation has a 1-year low of $73.85 and a 1-year high of $125.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.29.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The auto parts company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.60 earnings per share. Lear’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Lear Corporation will post 12.89 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lear news, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 1,187 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.86, for a total value of $110,224.82. Following the sale, the director directly owned 84 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,800.24. This trade represents a 93.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Lear from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Lear from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $88.00 price objective on Lear and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Bank of America upped their target price on Lear from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.00.

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.