Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) Trading 6.7% Higher – Time to Buy?

Shares of Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) rose 6.7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $8.40 and last traded at $8.39. Approximately 2,079,470 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 2,429,236 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their target price on Leggett & Platt from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Leggett & Platt from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th.

Leggett & Platt Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $964.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.92 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.70, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 2.00.

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21. Leggett & Platt had a positive return on equity of 17.09% and a negative net margin of 11.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Leggett & Platt, Incorporated will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leggett & Platt Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. Leggett & Platt’s payout ratio is -5.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Leggett & Platt by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,478,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,593,000 after acquiring an additional 722,024 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,751,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,610,000 after purchasing an additional 214,571 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,437,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,657,000 after purchasing an additional 27,693 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Leggett & Platt by 2.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,377,000 after purchasing an additional 60,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Leggett & Platt by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,632,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,669,000 after buying an additional 179,938 shares during the last quarter. 64.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Leggett & Platt Company Profile

Leggett & Platt, Inc engages in the manufacture and distribution of furniture and engineered components and products among homes, offices, automobiles, and commercial aircraft. It operates through the following segments: Bedding Products, Specialized Products, and Furniture, Flooring & Textile Products.