Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $1.78 Million Investment in Lear Corporation $LEA

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Lear Corporation (NYSE:LEA) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 14,700 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,780,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lear in the first quarter valued at about $542,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Lear during the 1st quarter worth about $232,000. Krilogy Financial LLC grew its holdings in Lear by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 1,901 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Lear by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,788 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 2,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Lear by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 576 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Lear news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.37, for a total value of $6,768,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 49,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,739,936.93. This trade represents a 50.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Conrad L. Mallett, Jr. sold 190 shares of Lear stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.34, for a total transaction of $26,854.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $237,875.22. This represents a 10.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 62,026 shares of company stock worth $8,498,248 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Lear

Here are the key news stories impacting Lear this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Lear said the StoneShield acquisition should strengthen its automation capabilities, which could support efficiency, manufacturing flexibility, and longer-term margin improvement. Lear expands automation capabilities with StoneShield acquisition
• Neutral Sentiment: Several unrelated articles in the feed covered learning software, AI in education, and crypto topics, with no direct impact on Lear’s core auto parts business.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on LEA shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Lear from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lear from $115.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Lear from $145.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Lear from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Lear in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lear presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.38.

Lear Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE LEA opened at $133.83 on Wednesday. Lear Corporation has a 12 month low of $91.67 and a 12 month high of $150.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.23.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The auto parts company reported $3.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $5.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.84 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 13.69% and a net margin of 2.25%.The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.12 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Lear Corporation will post 14.64 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Lear’s payout ratio is currently 30.80%.

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.