Baird Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Lennox International, Inc. $LII

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Lennox International by 25.3%, owning approximately 91,595 shares valued at about $51.37 million as of the latest filing.
• Several institutional investors significantly boosted their positions in Lennox International, with GAMMA Investing LLC increasing its stake by nearly 69,430% in the first quarter.
• Lennox International reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $7.82 for the quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates of $6.90, alongside a revenue increase of 3.4% year-over-year.

Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII - Free Report) by 25.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,595 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 18,502 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.26% of Lennox International worth $51,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in Lennox International by 247.1% in the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 26,620 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $16,220,000 after purchasing an additional 18,950 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Lennox International by 227.4% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 76,149 shares of the construction company's stock worth $46,398,000 after buying an additional 52,888 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Lennox International by 500.0% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 94,086 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $57,326,000 after buying an additional 78,406 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Lennox International by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 38,259 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $23,311,000 after buying an additional 1,411 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Lennox International by 70,811.1% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,382 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,888,000 after acquiring an additional 6,373 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LII has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $455.00 to $549.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Lennox International from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lennox International from $570.00 to $676.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Lennox International from $619.00 to $691.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Lennox International from $600.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $635.33.

Lennox International Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of Lennox International stock traded up $16.44 during trading on Thursday, hitting $561.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 230,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 401,498. Lennox International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $500.10 and a 52 week high of $689.44. The company has a market capitalization of $19.72 billion, a PE ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $597.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $579.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $7.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.90 by $0.92. Lennox International had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 99.81%. The business had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Lennox International has set its FY 2025 guidance at 23.250-24.250 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Lennox International, Inc. will post 22.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennox International announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel M. Sessa sold 2,782 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $670.04, for a total value of $1,864,051.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,155,842.96. This trade represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Chris Kosel sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.86, for a total transaction of $177,558.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,282 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $758,764.52. This represents a 18.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company's stock.

Lennox International 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.