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

Shares of Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $604.31.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Lennox International from $580.00 to $582.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $600.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $625.00 to $570.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $455.00 to $549.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th.

Lennox International Price Performance

Shares of LII traded up $14.93 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $612.09. The stock had a trading volume of 205,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 364,859. Lennox International has a 52 week low of $500.10 and a 52 week high of $682.50. The company's fifty day moving average is $576.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $584.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.13.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 14.96% and a return on equity of 106.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.47 EPS. The company's revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Lennox International will post 22.94 EPS for the current year.

Lennox International announced that its board has initiated 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 purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Lennox International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This is an increase from Lennox International's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Lennox International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 509 shares of Lennox International stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $568.05, for a total value of $289,137.45. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 9.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennox International

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Lennox International by 55.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 889,032 shares of the construction company's stock worth $542,374,000 after buying an additional 317,937 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Lennox International by 69,429.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 356,688 shares of the construction company's stock worth $200,041,000 after buying an additional 356,175 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in Lennox International by 33.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 189,571 shares of the construction company's stock worth $103,661,000 after buying an additional 47,170 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Lennox International by 500.0% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 94,086 shares of the construction company's stock worth $57,326,000 after buying an additional 78,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Lennox International by 118.3% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 92,618 shares of the construction company's stock worth $51,932,000 after buying an additional 50,188 shares during the last quarter. 67.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.