Insider Selling: Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) CEO Sells 11,260 Shares of Stock

Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA – Get Rating) CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 11,260 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.50, for a total transaction of $1,559,510.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,318,490. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Lear Stock Performance

Lear stock opened at $131.92 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $138.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.89. Lear Co. has a twelve month low of $114.67 and a twelve month high of $158.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $7.80 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.53.

Lear (NYSE:LEA – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The auto parts company reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.27. Lear had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 11.22%. The firm had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 11.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lear Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 9th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LEA. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Lear from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $149.00 to $139.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 14th. Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Lear from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Barclays began coverage on shares of Lear in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Lear from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.38.

Institutional Trading of Lear

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LEA. Old North State Trust LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lear in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Lear by 2,027.3% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 234 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Lear by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Lear by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 545 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in Lear during the 3rd quarter valued at about $72,000. 99.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Lear

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Lear Corp. engages in the design, manufacture and supply of automotive seats, electrical distribution systems and electronic modules, as well as related sub-systems, components, and software. It operates through the following segments: Seating and E-Systems. The Seating segment consists of the design, engineering, just-in-time assembly and delivery of complete seat systems, as well as the manufacture of all major seat components, including seat covers and surface materials such as leather and fabric, seat structures and mechanisms, seat foam and headrests.