Verition Fund Management LLC Acquires 84,645 Shares of Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG)

Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) by 649.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 97,675 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 84,645 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Leggett & Platt were worth $1,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LEG. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 426.2% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,042,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,923,000 after buying an additional 11,373,507 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 1,098.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,005,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,160,000 after buying an additional 1,838,009 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 3,264.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 692,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,437,000 after buying an additional 672,290 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Leggett & Platt in the second quarter worth approximately $3,380,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of Leggett & Platt by 1,109.0% in the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 238,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,733,000 after buying an additional 218,786 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.23% of the company’s stock.

Leggett & Platt Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LEG opened at $11.77 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $12.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of -1.96 and a beta of 1.07. Leggett & Platt, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $10.11 and a 1 year high of $27.58.

Leggett & Platt (NYSE:LEG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. Leggett & Platt had a negative net margin of 18.53% and a positive return on equity of 14.99%. The business’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Leggett & Platt, Incorporated will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leggett & Platt Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. Leggett & Platt’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -3.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LEG. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Leggett & Platt from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Leggett & Platt from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $11.00 to $13.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Leggett & Platt currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.67.

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.