Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG – Get Rating) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 478,732 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,220 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.36% of Leggett & Platt worth $15,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 187.3% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 8,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 5,289 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,233,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000,000 after acquiring an additional 221,468 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Leggett & Platt in the 4th quarter worth approximately $508,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 519,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,757,000 after acquiring an additional 2,859 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in Leggett & Platt by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 57,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,861,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. 69.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on LEG. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Leggett & Platt from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $39.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Leggett & Platt from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Leggett & Platt in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

Leggett & Platt Stock Up 0.5 %

LEG stock opened at $32.70 on Tuesday. Leggett & Platt, Incorporated has a 52-week low of $30.05 and a 52-week high of $41.94. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.35 and a beta of 1.30.

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 1st. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.13. Leggett & Platt had a net margin of 5.42% and a return on equity of 16.83%. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Leggett & Platt, Incorporated will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Leggett & Platt Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.63%. This is a positive change from Leggett & Platt’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Leggett & Platt’s payout ratio is currently 88.00%.

Leggett & Platt Company Profile

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Leggett & Platt, Inc engages in the manufacture and distribution of furniture and engineered components and products among homes, offices, automobiles, and commercial aircraft. It operates through the following segments: Bedding, Flooring, Furniture & Textile, and Specialized Products. The Bedding Products segment supplies products and components for the home, including mattress springs and specialty foam, as well as adjustable beds, bedding machinery, steel rod, and drawn wire.