Baird Financial Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII)

Baird Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII - Free Report) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,093 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 4,454 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.21% of Lennox International worth $44,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LII. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Lennox International in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Lennox International by 50.8% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 98 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Lennox International by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 117 shares of the construction company's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in Lennox International by 1,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 210 shares of the construction company's stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vicus Capital purchased a new stake in Lennox International during the fourth quarter valued at about $202,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on LII shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Lennox International from $585.00 to $450.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer raised Lennox International from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Lennox International from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Lennox International from $608.00 to $600.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Mizuho downgraded Lennox International from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $675.00 to $625.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $577.00.

Insider Activity at Lennox International

In related news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 509 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $568.05, for a total transaction of $289,137.45. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at $898,655.10. This represents a 24.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lennox International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LII traded down $2.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $573.59. 274,873 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 356,573. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Lennox International Inc. has a twelve month low of $483.42 and a twelve month high of $682.50. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $560.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $603.79.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.25 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1 billion. Lennox International had a return on equity of 126.79% and a net margin of 15.11%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Lennox International Inc. will post 22.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennox International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. Lennox International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.50%.

Lennox International Company Profile

Lennox International Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets a range of products for the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration markets in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The Home Comfort Solutions segment provides furnaces, air conditioners, heat pumps, packaged heating and cooling systems, indoor air quality equipment, comfort control products, and replacement parts and supplies; residential heating, ventilation, cooling equipment, and air conditioning; and evaporator coils and unit heaters under Lennox, Dave Lennox Signature Collection, Armstrong Air, Ducane, AirEase, Concord, MagicPak, Advanced Distributor Products, Allied, Elite Series, Merit Series, Comfort Sync, Healthy Climate, iComfort, ComfortSense, and Lennox Stores name.