Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) Sets New 1-Year Low After Earnings Miss

Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as low as $11.02 and last traded at $12.18, with a volume of 3611512 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.07.

The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.01). Leggett & Platt had a positive return on equity of 11.99% and a negative net margin of 2.90%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Leggett & Platt Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. Leggett & Platt’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -184.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on LEG shares. 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 note on Tuesday, March 26th. TheStreet cut shares of Leggett & Platt from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Leggett & Platt from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Leggett & Platt from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Leggett & Platt during the fourth quarter valued at $26,814,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Leggett & Platt by 68.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,934,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,636,000 after buying an additional 786,297 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Leggett & Platt by 329.6% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 834,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,198,000 after buying an additional 640,015 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Leggett & Platt by 45.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,699,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,186,000 after buying an additional 532,780 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 675.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 477,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,121,000 after acquiring an additional 415,641 shares in the last quarter. 64.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Leggett & Platt Stock Down 26.6 %

The company has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.27 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $18.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.49.

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.