Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) Short Interest Update

Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,840,000 shares, a decline of 5.9% from the June 30th total of 10,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,810,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 7.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Leggett & Platt from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Leggett & Platt from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 6th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Leggett & Platt from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Leggett & Platt from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.00.

Leggett & Platt Stock Performance

NYSE LEG opened at $13.48 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $11.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.57. Leggett & Platt has a 52 week low of $10.11 and a 52 week high of $30.69.

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.01). Leggett & Platt had a negative net margin of 3.44% and a positive return on equity of 11.31%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. Leggett & Platt’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Leggett & Platt will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Karl G. Glassman acquired 23,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.48 per share, for a total transaction of $273,224.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,151,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,223,708.68. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Karl G. Glassman acquired 23,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.48 per share, for a total transaction of $273,224.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,151,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,223,708.68. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Ryan Michael Kleiboeker acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $13.39 per share, for a total transaction of $133,900.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,535 shares in the company, valued at $556,153.65. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 65,635 shares of company stock worth $773,447 in the last quarter. 1.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LEG. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Leggett & Platt by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 7,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,000 after buying an additional 878 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Leggett & Platt by 253.3% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Leggett & Platt in the fourth quarter worth approximately $783,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Leggett & Platt in the 4th quarter worth approximately $336,000. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Leggett & Platt in the 4th quarter worth approximately $228,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.