In my quest to find new dividend growth stocks to add to my dividend growth stock portfolio, I wanted to perform a detailed stock analysis over a Dividend Aristocrat that I currently do not own. My focus has been in the consumer staple industry of later and I wanted to branch out to see if there were any potential investment opportunities in other industries. That is why I am performing a detailed dividend stock analysis over Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) today!
I love companies that have a diversified product offering. LEG definitely checks this box, as they are a market leader in the manufacturer of products that can be found in a residential, office, industrial, automobile, or retail store! What's crazy is that LEG is diversified within each of the segments listed below. For example, the company's residential segment offers products for bedding, flooring, and furniture while the company's industrial segment offers products such as wires, machinery, and steel rods. Diversification among products is desirable when I try to identify a great dividend growth stock to invest in!
Before looking at the company's recent earnings release, I took a quick look at the company's balance sheet at the end of the quarter. There were two things that jumped out at me. First, the company's debt exceeds their equity. This isn't a bad thing if the company does an effective job of managing their balance sheet. If debt becomes too burdensome, it can cause future headaches for the company and potentially threaten their dividend (if it ever comes to that). However, the debt levels do not appear too far out of whack compared to the many other companies we have analyzed over the years. The second observation I had was that the company has strong current and quick ratios, both of which exceed 1X. This is great news, as this indicates the company's current
