Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 16,458 Shares of Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 667,662 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,458 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.50% of Leggett & Platt worth $5,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LEG. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Leggett & Platt by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 7,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 1,163 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in Leggett & Platt by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 24,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Leggett & Platt by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 263,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,533,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Leggett & Platt by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 67,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $646,000 after buying an additional 2,109 shares during the period. Finally, Investors Research Corp increased its position in Leggett & Platt by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 28,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 2,687 shares during the period. 64.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Leggett & Platt Stock Performance

LEG opened at $9.81 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of -2.62 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59. Leggett & Platt, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $6.48 and a 1 year high of $14.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.10.

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Leggett & Platt had a positive return on equity of 20.46% and a negative net margin of 11.89%. Leggett & Platt’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Leggett & Platt, Incorporated will post 1.14 EPS for the current year.

Leggett & Platt Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Leggett & Platt’s dividend payout ratio is -5.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on LEG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Leggett & Platt from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Leggett & Platt from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 price target (down from $12.00) on shares of Leggett & Platt in a research report on Friday, April 11th.

Leggett & Platt Profile

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 Products, Specialized Products, and Furniture, Flooring & Textile Products.