Short Interest in Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) Declines By 5.5%

Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,190,000 shares, a decline of 5.5% from the September 15th total of 6,550,000 shares. Currently, 4.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,720,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Leggett & Platt Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LEG opened at $13.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.60 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.23. Leggett & Platt has a 52 week low of $10.11 and a 52 week high of $27.58.

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. Leggett & Platt had a positive return on equity of 12.65% and a negative net margin of 18.05%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Leggett & Platt will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leggett & Platt Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. Leggett & Platt’s payout ratio is -17.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Leggett & Platt from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Leggett & Platt from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Leggett & Platt from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.67.

Institutional Trading of Leggett & Platt

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Leggett & Platt by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,996,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,107,000 after purchasing an additional 49,086 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of Leggett & Platt by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 49,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,303,000 after acquiring an additional 12,064 shares during the period. Arbor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Leggett & Platt by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Arbor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 57,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Leggett & Platt in the 1st quarter worth approximately $220,000. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Leggett & Platt by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 32,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $627,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.23% of the company’s stock.

Leggett & Platt Company Profile

Leggett & Platt, Incorporated designs, manufactures, and sells engineered components and products in the United States, Europe, China, Canada, Mexico, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Bedding Products; Specialized Products; and Furniture, Flooring & Textile Products. The company offers steel rods, drawn wires, specialty foam chemicals and additives, innersprings, specialty foam for use in bedding and furniture, private label finished mattresses, ready-to-assemble mattress foundations, static foundations, and adjustable beds, as well as machines for producing innersprings; industrial sewing and quilting machines; mattress-packaging; and glue-drying equipment for various industrial users of steel rod and wire, manufacturers of finished bedding, bedding brands and mattress retailers, E-commerce retailers, big box retailers, department stores, and home improvement centers.