South Dakota Investment Council Buys 50,438 Shares of Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG)

South Dakota Investment Council grew its holdings in Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) by 52.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 145,846 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 50,438 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council owned approximately 0.11% of Leggett & Platt worth $3,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,946,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,983,000 after purchasing an additional 117,499 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Leggett & Platt by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,231,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,888,000 after purchasing an additional 405,363 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Leggett & Platt by 68.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,934,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,636,000 after purchasing an additional 786,297 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Leggett & Platt by 45.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,699,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,186,000 after purchasing an additional 532,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Leggett & Platt by 329.6% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 834,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,198,000 after purchasing an additional 640,015 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on LEG shares. StockNews.com lowered Leggett & Platt from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Leggett & Platt from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Leggett & Platt from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.33.

Leggett & Platt Price Performance

NYSE:LEG opened at $18.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Leggett & Platt, Incorporated has a 12 month low of $17.19 and a 12 month high of $33.50. The business’s 50-day moving average is $19.23 and its 200 day moving average is $22.52.

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.01). Leggett & Platt had a positive return on equity of 11.99% and a negative net margin of 2.90%. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Leggett & Platt, Incorporated will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leggett & Platt Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.11%. Leggett & Platt’s dividend payout ratio is -184.00%.

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.