WBI Investments LLC Has $662,000 Stake in Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG)

WBI Investments LLC decreased its stake in Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) by 29.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,578 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,214 shares during the quarter. WBI Investments LLC’s holdings in Leggett & Platt were worth $662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LEG. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Leggett & Platt by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,373,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,127,000 after buying an additional 262,145 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Leggett & Platt by 72.7% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 33,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 13,923 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Leggett & Platt by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 19,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 1,551 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Leggett & Platt by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,946,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,983,000 after buying an additional 117,499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council boosted its position in shares of Leggett & Platt by 52.9% during the 4th quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 145,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,817,000 after purchasing an additional 50,438 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LEG. StockNews.com lowered Leggett & Platt from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 6th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Leggett & Platt from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Leggett & Platt from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Leggett & Platt from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark A. Blinn acquired 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.74 per share, with a total value of $64,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 32,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $346,923.48. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Benjamin Michael Burns bought 3,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.20 per share, with a total value of $46,970.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $992,616.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark A. Blinn bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.74 per share, with a total value of $64,440.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 32,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $346,923.48. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 65,635 shares of company stock valued at $773,447 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.92% of the company’s stock.

Leggett & Platt Stock Up 7.1 %

NYSE LEG traded up $0.80 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $12.05. The stock had a trading volume of 1,472,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,693,177. Leggett & Platt, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $10.11 and a 1 year high of $31.14. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of -10.29 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Leggett & Platt had a negative net margin of 3.44% and a positive return on equity of 11.31%. The company’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Leggett & Platt, Incorporated will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Leggett & Platt Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Leggett & Platt’s dividend payout ratio is currently -17.24%.

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.