Leggett & Platt Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:LEG)

Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG - Get Rating) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 3,505 put options on the company. This is an increase of 840% compared to the average volume of 373 put options.

Leggett & Platt Stock Performance

NYSE:LEG traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $31.94. 15,448 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 847,996. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.26 and a beta of 1.26. Leggett & Platt has a twelve month low of $30.28 and a twelve month high of $43.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $33.80 and a 200 day moving average of $35.83. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG - Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 31st. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. Leggett & Platt had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 22.32%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Leggett & Platt will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Leggett & Platt Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 15th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 14th. Leggett & Platt's dividend payout ratio is 66.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LEG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Leggett & Platt from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Monday, December 12th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Leggett & Platt from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Leggett & Platt from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Leggett & Platt from $41.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Leggett & Platt from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Leggett & Platt

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 25.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,185,179 shares of the company's stock valued at $636,663,000 after buying an additional 3,678,871 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Leggett & Platt by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,118,584 shares of the company's stock worth $502,239,000 after purchasing an additional 301,672 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Leggett & Platt by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,946,780 shares of the company's stock worth $430,093,000 after purchasing an additional 64,443 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Leggett & Platt by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,879,061 shares of the company's stock worth $169,791,000 after purchasing an additional 265,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Leggett & Platt by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,012,498 shares of the company's stock worth $66,859,000 after purchasing an additional 260,637 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.42% of the company's stock.

About Leggett & Platt

Leggett & Platt, Incorporated designs, manufactures, and markets engineered components and products worldwide. It operates through three segments: Bedding Products; Specialized Products; and Furniture, Flooring & Textile Products. The company offers steel rods, drawn wires, foam chemicals and additives, innersprings, specialty foams, private label finished mattresses, mattress foundations, wire forms for mattress foundations, adjustable beds, industrial sewing and quilting machines, and mattress packaging and glue drying equipment, as well as machines to produce innersprings for industrial users of steel rods and wires, manufacturers of finished bedding, big box and e-commerce retailers, bedding brands and mattress retailers, department stores, and home improvement centers.

Featured Stories

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to EMAIL.

Before you consider Leggett & Platt, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Leggett & Platt wasn't on the list.

While Leggett & Platt currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here