Lennox International (NYSE:LII) Given New $676.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS Group has raised its price target for Lennox International (NYSE:LII) from $570.00 to $676.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.25% from its previous close.
• Lennox International showed positive financial performance, reporting $7.82 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' estimates of $6.90, along with a 3.4% year-over-year increase in revenue.
• The company has initiated a share buyback program, authorizing the repurchase of up to $1.00 billion in outstanding shares, indicating that its board believes the stock may be undervalued.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at UBS Group from $570.00 to $676.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the construction company's stock. UBS Group's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 12.88% from the stock's current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Lennox International from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on Lennox International from $696.00 to $753.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted 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. 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 report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Lennox International from $550.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lennox International presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $635.33.

Lennox International Stock Down 1.7%

LII traded down $10.11 on Monday, hitting $598.89. 128,001 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 409,024. Lennox International has a twelve month low of $500.10 and a twelve month high of $689.44. The company has a market cap of $21.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $585.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $585.64.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $7.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.90 by $0.92. Lennox International had a return on equity of 99.81% and a net margin of 15.41%. The firm had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.83 EPS. Lennox International's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Lennox International will post 22.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennox International announced that its board has approved 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 purchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Lennox International

In other Lennox International news, EVP Daniel M. Sessa sold 2,782 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $670.04, for a total transaction of $1,864,051.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,574 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,155,842.96. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Chris Kosel sold 509 shares of the company's 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $898,655.10. This represents a 24.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lennox International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. QV Investors Inc. increased its position in Lennox International by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 5,089 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,917,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Lennox International by 50.8% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 98 shares of the construction company's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in Lennox International by 125.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 81 shares of the construction company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Lennox International by 8.9% during 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. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position 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 worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. 67.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.