Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its holdings in Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII - Free Report) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 225,331 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 1,810 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.64% of Lennox International worth $126,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eukles Asset Management lifted its stake in Lennox International by 35.0% in the first quarter. Eukles Asset Management now owns 991 shares of the construction company's stock worth $556,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Lennox International by 1.2% in the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,730 shares of the construction company's stock worth $17,795,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Lennox International by 1.9% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 62,815 shares of the construction company's stock worth $35,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lennox International in the first quarter worth about $771,000. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its stake in Lennox International by 22.4% in the first quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 91,338 shares of the construction company's stock worth $51,225,000 after acquiring an additional 16,711 shares during the period. 67.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on LII. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Lennox International from $608.00 to $600.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Lennox International from $585.00 to $450.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Lennox International from $580.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Lennox International from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Lennox International from $619.00 to $691.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Lennox International has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $595.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 509 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale 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 Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:LII traded up $8.45 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $602.99. 245,495 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 364,577. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Lennox International, Inc. has a 12-month low of $500.10 and a 12-month high of $682.50. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $570.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $584.75.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.25 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. Lennox International had a net margin of 14.96% and a return on equity of 106.05%. Lennox International's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.47 EPS. On average, research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This is an increase from Lennox International's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. Lennox International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.17%.

Lennox International announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.