Van ECK Associates Corp Takes Position in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII)

Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,674 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $3,434,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tobam boosted its holdings in Lennox International by 1,640.0% during the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 87 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new position in shares of Lennox International in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Lennox International in the 4th quarter worth about $80,000. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. bought a new stake in Lennox International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,000. Finally, Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lennox International in the 4th quarter valued at about $239,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.07% of the company's stock.

Lennox International Price Performance

Shares of Lennox International stock traded up $1.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $471.18. The stock had a trading volume of 247,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 276,269. Lennox International Inc. has a twelve month low of $271.51 and a twelve month high of $501.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.78 billion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's 50 day moving average is $473.48 and its 200 day moving average is $440.13.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.17 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. Lennox International had a return on equity of 303.36% and a net margin of 12.38%. Equities analysts expect that Lennox International Inc. will post 19.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennox International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Lennox International's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lennox International news, EVP Gary S. Bedard sold 1,849 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.59, for a total transaction of $875,667.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,692,019.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Gary S. Bedard sold 1,849 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.59, for a total transaction of $875,667.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,465 shares in the company, valued at $9,692,019.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph William Reitmeier sold 1,930 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.48, for a total transaction of $909,956.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,566,818.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 10.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LII. Mizuho boosted their price target on Lennox International from $490.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Lennox International from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $481.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com lowered Lennox International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Lennox International from $545.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $482.31.

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.