Lennox International (NYSE:LII) Sets New 12-Month High on Earnings Beat

Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $689.44 and last traded at $661.48, with a volume of 1168258 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $619.97.

The construction company reported $7.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.90 by $0.92. The business had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Lennox International had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 99.81%. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.83 earnings per share.

Lennox International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is an increase from Lennox International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Lennox International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.23%.

Lennox International declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to reacquire up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LII. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $625.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Lennox International from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Lennox International from $455.00 to $549.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Lennox International from $600.00 to $668.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Lennox International from $619.00 to $691.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $626.50.

Insider Transactions at Lennox International

In other news, EVP Daniel M. Sessa sold 2,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were 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 owned 31,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,155,842.96. This trade represents a 8.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Chris Kosel sold 509 shares of Lennox International stock in a transaction 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 represents a 24.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennox International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lennox International by 8.9% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 576 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Lennox International by 24.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 636 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Lennox International in the 4th quarter valued at $572,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Lennox International by 227.4% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 76,149 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $46,398,000 after acquiring an additional 52,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Lennox International by 22.4% in the first quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 91,338 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $51,225,000 after purchasing an additional 16,711 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.07% of the company’s stock.

Lennox International Trading Down 0.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $581.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $585.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.21 billion, a PE ratio of 28.26, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.13.

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.