Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $595.23.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LII. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Lennox International from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Lennox International from $585.00 to $450.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Lennox International from $455.00 to $549.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays decreased their target price on Lennox International from $702.00 to $696.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Lennox International from $608.00 to $600.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $289,137.45. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 available at this hyperlink. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennox International

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew 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 in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lennox International by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 576 shares of the construction company's stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in Lennox International by 175.9% during the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 80 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Lennox International by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 853 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of Lennox International during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.07% of the company's stock.

Lennox International Stock Up 0.1%

LII stock opened at $617.77 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $573.82 and a 200 day moving average of $584.09. The firm has a market cap of $21.92 billion, a PE ratio of 27.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.13. Lennox International has a twelve month low of $500.10 and a twelve month high of $682.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.25 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. Lennox International had a return on equity of 106.05% and a net margin of 14.96%. The company's revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Lennox International will post 22.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennox International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This is an increase from Lennox International's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Lennox International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.17%.

Lennox International announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board 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.

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