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

Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,010,000 shares, a growth of 13.3% from the December 15th total of 4,420,000 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leggett & Platt

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Leggett & Platt by 76.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,043 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 884 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Leggett & Platt in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Leggett & Platt in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Leggett & Platt during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Leggett & Platt during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEG has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Leggett & Platt from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler upgraded Leggett & Platt from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $11.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.67.

Leggett & Platt Stock Down 1.2 %

Leggett & Platt stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $10.65. 1,498,702 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,800,725. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.77 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $10.98 and a 200 day moving average of $12.01. Leggett & Platt has a 12-month low of $9.18 and a 12-month high of $24.30.

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.01). Leggett & Platt had a positive return on equity of 14.99% and a negative net margin of 18.53%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Leggett & Platt will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leggett & Platt Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Leggett & Platt's payout ratio is currently -3.33%.

About Leggett & Platt

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.