Rhumbline Advisers Grows Stock Position in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII)

Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,372 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,047 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.19% of Lennox International worth $37,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eukles Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Lennox International in the fourth quarter worth about $447,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted 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 in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Lennox International in the fourth quarter worth about $6,164,000. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Lennox International in the fourth quarter worth about $572,000. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennox International in the fourth quarter worth about $322,000. 67.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennox International

In related news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 509 shares of Lennox International 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $898,655.10. This trade represents a 24.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LII has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $585.00 to $450.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Lennox International from $608.00 to $600.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Lennox International from $702.00 to $696.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Lennox International from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Lennox International from $625.00 to $570.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $583.71.

Lennox International Trading Up 0.3%

LII stock traded up $1.78 on Friday, reaching $552.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 387,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 363,776. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $559.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $597.97. Lennox International Inc. has a 12-month low of $493.80 and a 12-month high of $682.50. The firm has a market cap of $19.60 billion, a PE ratio of 24.51, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.25 by $0.12. Lennox International had a return on equity of 126.79% and a net margin of 15.11%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.47 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lennox International Inc. will post 22.94 EPS for the current year.

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

Lennox International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. This is a positive change from Lennox International's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. Lennox International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.17%.

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.