Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII) Holdings Cut by Entropy Technologies LP

Key Points

• Entropy Technologies LP has significantly reduced its holdings in Lennox International Inc. by 83.8%, leaving it with only 900 shares valued at $505,000.
• Lennox International has experienced increased interest from other institutional investors, with Bessemer Group raising its holdings by 50.8% and Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increasing by 247.1% in the last quarter.
• The company reported $7.82 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, alongside a recent dividend increase to $1.30 per share.

Entropy Technologies LP lowered its holdings in Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII - Free Report) by 83.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 900 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 4,640 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP's holdings in Lennox International were worth $505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LII. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lennox International by 50.8% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 98 shares of the construction company's stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Lennox International by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 520 shares of the construction company's stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in shares of Lennox International by 182.1% during the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 17,068 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $10,400,000 after buying an additional 11,018 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Lennox International by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 10,571 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $6,441,000 after buying an additional 3,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Lennox International by 247.1% during 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 buying an additional 18,950 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LII shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Lennox International from $600.00 to $668.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Lennox International from $455.00 to $549.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Lennox International from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Lennox International from $585.00 to $450.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Lennox International from $696.00 to $753.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $635.33.

Insider Activity

In other Lennox International news, EVP Daniel M. Sessa sold 2,782 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $670.04, for a total value of $1,864,051.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,574 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,155,842.96. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.73% of the company's stock.

Lennox International Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of LII stock opened at $612.68 on Thursday. Lennox International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $500.10 and a 1 year high of $689.44. The stock has a market cap of $21.52 billion, a PE ratio of 26.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.10. The business's fifty day moving average is $590.87 and its 200-day moving average is $582.25. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $7.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.90 by $0.92. The company had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.48 billion. Lennox International had a return on equity of 99.81% and a net margin of 15.41%. The firm's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Lennox International, Inc. will post 22.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennox International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Lennox International's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Lennox International's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.23%.

Lennox International declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to reacquire up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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