Rhumbline Advisers Purchases 4,047 Shares of Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII)

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

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LII. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Lennox International by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 98 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of Lennox International by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 117 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Lennox International by 1,650.0% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 210 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Vicus Capital bought a new stake in Lennox International in the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Lennox International by 23.5% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 421 shares of the construction company's stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 67.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lennox International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LII traded up $1.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $552.39. 387,451 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 362,562. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $559.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $599.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.43. The company has a market cap of $19.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.51, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. Lennox International Inc. has a twelve month low of $487.53 and a twelve month high of $682.50.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.25 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. Lennox International had a net margin of 15.11% and a return on equity of 126.79%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.47 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Lennox International Inc. will post 22.94 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from Lennox International's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Lennox International's dividend payout ratio is 23.17%.

Lennox International declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on LII. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Lennox International from $625.00 to $570.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Lennox International from $585.00 to $450.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Lennox International from $702.00 to $696.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on 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, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Lennox International from $608.00 to $600.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $583.71.

Insider Activity at Lennox International

In related news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 509 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 9.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.