Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 965 Shares of Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII)

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII - Free Report) by 27.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,603 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 965 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Lennox International were worth $1,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Lennox International during the first quarter worth $35,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennox International during the first quarter worth $43,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Lennox International by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 98 shares of the construction company's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Lennox International during the first quarter valued at $114,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position 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 during the period. 67.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LII shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Lennox International from $600.00 to $668.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays upped their price target on Lennox International from $696.00 to $753.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Lennox International from $455.00 to $549.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on 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, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Lennox International from $619.00 to $691.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $635.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lennox International news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 509 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $568.05, for a total value of $289,137.45. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $898,655.10. This trade represents a 24.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel M. Sessa sold 2,782 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,574 shares in the company, valued at $21,155,842.96. The trade was a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lennox International Price Performance

Shares of LII traded down $3.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $605.18. The company had a trading volume of 389,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 381,977. Lennox International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $500.10 and a twelve month high of $689.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company's 50-day moving average is $586.22 and its 200-day moving average is $585.18. The company has a market capitalization of $21.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Lennox International Increases Dividend

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

Lennox International announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is 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.