Forsta AP Fonden Purchases 9,800 Shares of Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in Lennox International by 127.3%, acquiring a total of 17,500 shares valued at approximately $9.8 million.
• Lennox International reported earnings per share of $7.82 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and marking a 3.4% year-over-year increase in revenue.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend increase from $1.15 to $1.30, reflecting a 0.9% dividend yield and a payout ratio of about 22.23%.

Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in shares of Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII - Free Report) by 127.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,500 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,800 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Lennox International were worth $9,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Lennox International by 69,429.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 356,688 shares of the construction company's stock worth $200,041,000 after purchasing an additional 356,175 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 78,406 shares in the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its position in Lennox International by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 91,338 shares of the construction company's stock worth $51,225,000 after purchasing an additional 16,711 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 52,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Lennox International by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 67,372 shares of the construction company's stock worth $37,784,000 after purchasing an additional 4,047 shares in the last quarter. 67.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Lennox International from $570.00 to $676.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lennox International from $696.00 to $753.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Lennox International from $619.00 to $691.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Lennox International from $580.00 to $582.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Lennox International from $600.00 to $668.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lennox International has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $635.33.

Insider Transactions at Lennox International

In other Lennox International news, EVP Daniel M. Sessa sold 2,782 shares of the 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 directly owned 31,574 shares in the company, valued at $21,155,842.96. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 9.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lennox International Stock Performance

Shares of LII stock traded down $13.32 during trading on Thursday, reaching $598.37. 122,990 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 402,763. Lennox International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $500.10 and a 1 year high of $689.44. 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 $21.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.64, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's 50-day moving average is $590.87 and its 200 day moving average is $582.25.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $6.83 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Lennox International, Inc. will post 22.94 EPS for the current year.

Lennox International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from Lennox International's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. Lennox International's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.23%.

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

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.