Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Has $11.17 Million Stock Holdings in Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII)

Key Points

• Mediolanum International Funds Ltd reduced its stake in Lennox International by 4.1%, owning approximately 0.06% of the company after selling 857 shares, valued at about $11.17 million.
• Lennox International reported earnings per share of $7.82 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and demonstrating a 3.4% year-over-year revenue growth of $1.50 billion.
• The company also announced a stock repurchase program of up to $1 billion, indicating that the board believes its shares are undervalued.

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lessened its position in shares of Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII - Free Report) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,196 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 857 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd owned approximately 0.06% of Lennox International worth $11,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Lennox International in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lennox International during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Lennox International by 50.8% during the fourth 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. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lennox International during the first quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake 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 valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LII shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Lennox International from $619.00 to $691.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Lennox International from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price target on Lennox International from $696.00 to $753.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Lennox International from $585.00 to $450.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Lennox International from $455.00 to $549.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $635.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 509 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $568.05, for a total value of $289,137.45. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $898,655.10. This trade represents a 24.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel M. Sessa sold 2,782 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,155,842.96. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 10.40% of the company's stock.

Lennox International Stock Down 2.9%

NYSE LII traded down $18.73 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $620.80. 228,366 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 408,909. Lennox International, Inc. has a 12 month low of $500.10 and a 12 month high of $689.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $583.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $585.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $21.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.13.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $7.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.90 by $0.92. Lennox International had a return on equity of 99.81% and a net margin of 15.41%. The company had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lennox International, Inc. will post 22.94 EPS for the current year.

Lennox International Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Lennox International's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Lennox International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.23%.

Lennox International announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to purchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is 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.