California State Teachers Retirement System Purchases 2,133 Shares of Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII)

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII - Free Report) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,361 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 2,133 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.13% of Lennox International worth $28,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lennox International by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 889,032 shares of the construction company's stock worth $542,374,000 after buying an additional 317,937 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Lennox International by 500.0% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 94,086 shares of the construction company's stock worth $57,326,000 after buying an additional 78,406 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Lennox International by 227.4% in the 4th 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. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Lennox International by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 42,430 shares of the construction company's stock worth $25,861,000 after buying an additional 9,239 shares during the period. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lennox International by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 38,259 shares of the construction company's stock worth $23,311,000 after buying an additional 1,411 shares during the period. 67.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lennox International

In other Lennox International news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 509 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $898,655.10. This trade represents a 24.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer raised shares of Lennox International from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $702.00 to $696.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $455.00 to $549.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $608.00 to $600.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $583.71.

Lennox International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LII traded down $12.36 during trading on Monday, reaching $552.09. 429,453 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 361,650. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $559.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $600.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. Lennox International Inc. has a 52-week low of $483.42 and a 52-week high of $682.50.

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

Lennox International announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Lennox International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This is a boost from Lennox International's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. Lennox International's dividend payout ratio is 23.17%.

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.