The Goldman Sachs Group Trims Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) Target Price to $14.00

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) had its price target lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group from $20.00 to $14.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on LEG. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Leggett & Platt from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded Leggett & Platt from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial decreased 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. Finally, TheStreet cut Leggett & Platt from a c rating to a d+ rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $13.33.

Leggett & Platt Stock Performance

LEG stock traded up $0.39 during trading on Thursday, reaching $13.95. The stock had a trading volume of 3,968,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,435,515. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $18.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Leggett & Platt has a 52 week low of $11.02 and a 52 week high of $33.11. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of -12.03 and a beta of 1.19.

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. 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 11.31% and a negative net margin of 3.44%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Leggett & Platt will post 1.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Leggett & Platt Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Leggett & Platt’s dividend payout ratio is currently -158.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Ryan Michael Kleiboeker purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was acquired 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,153.65. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leggett & Platt

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEG. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Leggett & Platt in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $116,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Leggett & Platt by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 27,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Leggett & Platt by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 294,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,471,000 after purchasing an additional 8,278 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Leggett & Platt by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 61,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,563,000 after purchasing an additional 8,372 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Leggett & Platt by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 25,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.