Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) Short Interest Up 17.1% in March

Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) saw a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,300,000 shares, a growth of 17.1% from the March 15th total of 7,090,000 shares. Approximately 6.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Leggett & Platt Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:LEG traded down $0.21 on Tuesday, hitting $17.40. The stock had a trading volume of 821,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,656,317. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.49 and a beta of 1.17. Leggett & Platt has a 1 year low of $17.31 and a 1 year high of $33.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.81.

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. Analysts predict that Leggett & Platt will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Leggett & Platt Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.57%. Leggett & Platt’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -184.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LEG shares. TheStreet lowered shares of Leggett & Platt from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Leggett & Platt from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Leggett & Platt from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two equities research 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, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leggett & Platt

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 254,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 58,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,040,000 after purchasing an additional 6,030 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 174.1% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 42,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 27,098 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 34.2% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 81,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,825,000 after purchasing an additional 20,675 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.