MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 8,136 Shares of Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII - Free Report) by 45.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,899 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 8,136 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Lennox International were worth $6,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lennox International by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 681 shares of the construction company's stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. grew its position in Lennox International by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. now owns 4,628 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,820,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Lennox International during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.07% of the company's stock.

Lennox International Trading Down 0.3 %

LII stock traded down $1.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $529.78. The stock had a trading volume of 44,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 350,709. The firm has a market cap of $18.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.07. Lennox International Inc. has a twelve month low of $445.63 and a twelve month high of $682.50. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $568.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $606.38.

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

Lennox International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Lennox International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LII has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised shares of Lennox International from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Lennox International from $608.00 to $600.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Lennox International from $625.00 to $570.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Lennox International from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Lennox International from $580.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $577.00.

Insider Transactions at Lennox International

In related news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.20, for a total value of $124,974.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,282 shares in the company, valued at $825,864.40. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 10.40% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.