Lennox International (NYSE:LII) Coverage Initiated at Northcoast Research

Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of Lennox International (NYSE:LII) in a research note released on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a sell rating and a $475.00 price target on the construction company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Lennox International from $648.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of Lennox International in a report on Thursday, July 25th. KeyCorp cut Lennox International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lennox International from $575.00 to $624.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Lennox International from $604.00 to $619.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $575.54.

Lennox International Price Performance

Shares of LII opened at $657.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a PE ratio of 31.20, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $611.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $564.97. Lennox International has a twelve month low of $397.34 and a twelve month high of $658.69.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The construction company reported $6.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.95 by $0.73. Lennox International had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 148.52%. The business had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.37 EPS. Lennox International’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Lennox International will post 21.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennox International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Lennox International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lennox International news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $625.49, for a total transaction of $125,098.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $904,458.54. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Shane D. Wall sold 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.97, for a total transaction of $199,215.25. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,035 shares in the company, valued at $1,247,393.95. The trade was a 13.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,480 shares of company stock valued at $3,823,519. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennox International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LII. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Lennox International in the 1st quarter valued at $15,416,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Lennox International by 3.8% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 55,113 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,304,000 after purchasing an additional 2,013 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lennox International in the second quarter valued at about $491,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Lennox International by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 83,311 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,570,000 after buying an additional 5,673 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Lennox International by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 51,263 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,978,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. 67.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.