LRI Investments LLC Decreases Holdings in Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII)

LRI Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII) by 59.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 217 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 321 shares during the quarter. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Lennox International were worth $122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in Lennox International during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lennox International during the first quarter valued at about $43,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Lennox International by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 98 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lennox International during the first quarter valued at about $114,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in Lennox International by 1,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 210 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. 67.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on LII shares. Oppenheimer upgraded 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 research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Lennox International from $702.00 to $696.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Lennox International from $585.00 to $450.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Lennox International from $455.00 to $549.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Lennox International from $608.00 to $600.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $595.23.

Lennox International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LII opened at $615.59 on Tuesday. Lennox International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $500.10 and a fifty-two week high of $682.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $573.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $584.09. The company has a market capitalization of $21.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.25 by $0.12. Lennox International had a net margin of 14.96% and a return on equity of 106.05%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Lennox International, Inc. will post 22.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennox International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is an increase from Lennox International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Lennox International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.17%.

Lennox International announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennox International

In related news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 509 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $289,137.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 1,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $898,655.10. This trade represents a 24.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

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.