Short Interest in Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) Increases By 13.3%

Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) was the target of a large growth in short interest in 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. Approximately 3.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,780,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leggett & Platt

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEG. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Leggett & Platt by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 47,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $461,000 after acquiring an additional 10,936 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Leggett & Platt in the fourth quarter valued at about $856,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Leggett & Platt in the fourth quarter worth about $99,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Leggett & Platt during the 4th quarter worth about $337,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in Leggett & Platt during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Institutional investors own 64.23% of the company’s stock.

Leggett & Platt Stock Down 1.2 %

Leggett & Platt stock opened at $10.65 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.48. Leggett & Platt has a 12 month low of $9.18 and a 12 month high of $24.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.02.

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Leggett & Platt had a negative net margin of 18.53% and a positive return on equity of 14.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Leggett & Platt will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leggett & Platt Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is -3.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on LEG. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Leggett & Platt from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler raised Leggett & Platt from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Leggett & Platt currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.67.

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.