Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $577.00.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LII. Mizuho downgraded Lennox International from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $675.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Lennox International from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Lennox International from $585.00 to $450.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Lennox International in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Lennox International from $580.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th.

Lennox International Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:LII opened at $534.58 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $566.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $605.89. The company has a market capitalization of $18.97 billion, a PE ratio of 23.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.07. Lennox International has a twelve month low of $445.63 and a twelve month high of $682.50.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.47 earnings per share. Lennox International’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Lennox International will post 22.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennox International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Lennox International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.20, for a total value of $124,974.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,282 shares in the company, valued at $825,864.40. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennox International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LII. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Lennox International by 50.8% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 98 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Lennox International in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position 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 worth $71,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 67.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.