Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) Short Interest Up 13.3% in December

Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of 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 trading volume of 1,780,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Leggett & Platt

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Leggett & Platt by 76.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Leggett & Platt during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Leggett & Platt in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Leggett & Platt in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Leggett & Platt during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Leggett & Platt Stock Performance

Shares of Leggett & Platt stock opened at $10.65 on Monday. Leggett & Platt has a 52-week low of $9.18 and a 52-week high of $24.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $10.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.02.

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.01). The business 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 business’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Leggett & Platt will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Leggett & Platt Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Leggett & Platt’s payout ratio is presently -3.33%.

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.