Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) Short Interest Update

Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG - Get Rating) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,520,000 shares, an increase of 12.0% from the November 30th total of 7,610,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 873,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.8 days. Approximately 6.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leggett & Platt

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Leggett & Platt by 4.3% during the third quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,903 shares of the company's stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in Leggett & Platt by 3.7% during the second quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 8,304 shares of the company's stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,915 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Leggett & Platt by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,604 shares of the company's stock worth $1,957,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Finally, Archford Capital Strategies LLC grew its position in Leggett & Platt by 3.0% in the third quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 11,016 shares of the company's stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. 69.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Leggett & Platt Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE LEG traded down $0.03 during trading on Monday, hitting $32.23. 42,925 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,104,429. Leggett & Platt has a 12 month low of $30.28 and a 12 month high of $43.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 1.26.

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG - Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 31st. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. Leggett & Platt had a return on equity of 22.32% and a net margin of 6.86%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Leggett & Platt will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Leggett & Platt Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 15th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.46%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 14th. Leggett & Platt's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Leggett & Platt from $41.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 11th. Piper Sandler lowered Leggett & Platt from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Monday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered Leggett & Platt from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Leggett & Platt from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. Finally, TheStreet lowered Leggett & Platt from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a report on Thursday, October 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Leggett & Platt has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.25.

About Leggett & Platt

Leggett & Platt, Incorporated designs, manufactures, and markets engineered components and products worldwide. It operates through three segments: Bedding Products; Specialized Products; and Furniture, Flooring & Textile Products. The company offers steel rods, drawn wires, foam chemicals and additives, innersprings, specialty foams, private label finished mattresses, mattress foundations, wire forms for mattress foundations, adjustable beds, industrial sewing and quilting machines, and mattress packaging and glue drying equipment, as well as machines to produce innersprings for industrial users of steel rods and wires, manufacturers of finished bedding, big box and e-commerce retailers, bedding brands and mattress retailers, department stores, and home improvement centers.

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