Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,946,981 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 117,499 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.71% of Leggett & Platt worth $328,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 97.6% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 44,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,127,000 after buying an additional 21,904 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 332.4% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 233,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,941,000 after buying an additional 179,734 shares during the period. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in shares of Leggett & Platt in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,583,000. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $490,000 after buying an additional 1,937 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Leggett & Platt by 8.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,813,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,090,000 after purchasing an additional 142,811 shares during the last quarter. 64.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial cut their price target on Leggett & Platt from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. TheStreet lowered Leggett & Platt from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Leggett & Platt from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.33.

Leggett & Platt Trading Up 4.9 %

NYSE:LEG opened at $18.96 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.96 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.47. Leggett & Platt, Incorporated has a 12-month low of $17.81 and a 12-month high of $33.50.

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Leggett & Platt had a negative net margin of 2.90% and a positive return on equity of 11.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Leggett & Platt, Incorporated will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Leggett & Platt Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Leggett & Platt’s payout ratio is currently -184.00%.

Leggett & Platt 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.