Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) Declares Dividend Increase - $1.30 Per Share

Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 22nd, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of 1.30 per share by the construction company on Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This is a 13.0% increase from Lennox International's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15.

Lennox International has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.8% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. Lennox International has a payout ratio of 20.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Lennox International to earn $25.70 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.2%.

Lennox International Price Performance

LII stock traded down $7.24 on Wednesday, reaching $571.98. 133,687 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 359,640. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $561.30 and a 200-day moving average of $601.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $20.30 billion, a PE ratio of 25.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. Lennox International has a twelve month low of $483.42 and a twelve month high of $682.50.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lennox International news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 509 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $568.05, for a total transaction of $289,137.45. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $898,655.10. The trade was a 24.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Lennox International in a report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Lennox International from $580.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Lennox International from $702.00 to $696.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Lennox International from $585.00 to $450.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Lennox International from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $583.71.

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.