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Leggett & Platt Inc, known by the ticker symbol LEG,  is a large-cap furnishings, fixtures, and appliances company, operating in the consumer cyclical business sector. This is my first report on Leggett & Platt Inc (LEG)  for this Viital portfolio. I have selected it for one of my previous six portfolios.

Leggett & Platt Inc designs and produces engineered components and products found in most homes and automobiles. 

It operates its business through three segments namely Bedding Products, Specialized Products, and Furniture, Flooring, and Textile Products. 

Serving a broad suite of customers around the world, Leggett & Platt's products include bedding components, automotive seat support and lumbar systems, specialty bedding foam and private label finished mattresses, components for home furniture, and work furniture, flooring underlayment, adjustable beds, and various other products.

The company sells its products to manufacturers of upholstered and office furniture, flooring retailers and distributors, contractors, landscapers, road construction companies, retailers, government agencies, and mattress and furniture producers, as well as manufacturers of packaging, filtration, and draperies. 

The company was founded in 1883 and is based in Carthage, Missouri.

Three key data points gauge any dividend equity or fund such as Leggett & Platt Inc (LEG):

(1) Price

(2) Dividends

(3) Returns

Those three basic keys best tell whether any company has made, is making, and will make money. 

LEG Price

Leggett's price per share was $36.34 as of yesterday's market close. One year ago its price was $46.30. Therefore, Leggett's share price fell by $9.96 or about 21.5% in the past year. 

If LEG's stock trades in the range of $32.00 to $48.00 this next year, its recent $36.34 share price might rise by $4.16 to reach $40.50 by March 22, 2023. My $4.16 estimate is $5.00 under the median of 1yr target prices estimates from 4 analysts covering LEG for brokers.

LEG Dividends

Leggett's most recently declared quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share is payable April 15th, to shareholders on record as of March 14th.  The LEG annual dividend payout per share of $1.68 yields 4.62% at yesterday's $36.34 closing price. 

LEG has paid quarterly payouts increasing annually since June 1986. That stretch will mark 36 years in June. LEG is an S&P 500 Aristocrat credited with increasing dividends over 25 years.

LEG Returns

Adding the $1.68 LEG annual dividend to the estimated one-year price upside of $4.16 shows a $5.84 potential gross gain, per share, to be reduced by any costs to trade Leggett shares.  

At yesterday's $36.34 price per share, a little over $1000 would buy 28 shares.

A $10 broker fee (if charged) would be paid half at purchase and half at the sale and might cost us about $0.36 per share.

Subtract that maybe $0.36 brokerage cost from my estimated $5.84 gross gain estimate per share results in a net gain of $5.48 X 28 shares = $153.44 for a 15.3% net gain on a $1,017.52 investment.

So it is that Leggett & Platt Inc (LEG) shows a possible 15.3% net gain including a 4.62% past year dividend yield. 

Over the next year at this time, our $1000 investment in Leggett & Platt Inc (LEG) could generate $46.20 in cash dividends alone. Note that a single share of LEG stock bought at yesterday's single share price of $36.34 is over almost $10 less than the dividend income from our $1000.00 invested. So, by my dogcatcher ideal, now IS the time to buy Leggett & Platt Inc (LEG) shares. The estimated next-year dividend from $1K invested is $9.86 greater than yesterday's single share price. Consider yourself alerted. It's a sign!  

All of the estimates above are speculation based on the past history of Leggett & Platt Inc (LEG). Only time and money invested in this stock will determine its market value.