Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII) Shares Bought by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 62,815 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 1,158 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.18% of Lennox International worth $35,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of Lennox International by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 117 shares of the construction company's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Lennox International by 487.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 429 shares of the construction company's stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the period. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Lennox International by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 900 shares of the construction company's stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in Lennox International during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,582,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in Lennox International by 892.2% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,270 shares of the construction company's stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 509 shares of Lennox International stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $568.05, for a total value of $289,137.45. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,582 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 9.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Lennox International from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Lennox International from $455.00 to $549.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Lennox International from $585.00 to $450.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Lennox International from $580.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Lennox International in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $586.31.

Lennox International Stock Performance

LII stock traded up $2.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $604.22. 155,641 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 363,526. Lennox International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $500.10 and a 1-year high of $682.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $567.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $585.55. The firm has a market cap of $21.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, 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, April 23rd. The construction company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.25 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1 billion. Lennox International had a return on equity of 106.05% and a net margin of 14.96%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.47 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Lennox International, Inc. will post 22.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Lennox International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This is a positive change from Lennox International's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. Lennox International's payout ratio is presently 23.17%.

About Lennox International

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.