Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Has $11.17 Million Position in Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Lennox International, Inc. (NYSE:LII) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,196 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 857 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Lennox International were worth $11,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LII. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Lennox International by 55.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 889,032 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $542,374,000 after purchasing an additional 317,937 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Lennox International by 69,429.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 356,688 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $200,041,000 after purchasing an additional 356,175 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Lennox International by 500.0% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 94,086 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $57,326,000 after buying an additional 78,406 shares during the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Lennox International by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 91,338 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $51,225,000 after buying an additional 16,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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 valued at $46,398,000 after buying an additional 52,888 shares in the last quarter. 67.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lennox International Price Performance

NYSE LII opened at $660.92 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $581.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $585.10. Lennox International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $500.10 and a twelve month high of $689.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.21 billion, a PE ratio of 28.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Lennox International, Inc. will post 22.94 EPS for the current year.

Lennox International announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to buy up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Lennox International Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel M. Sessa sold 2,782 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $670.04, for a total value of $1,864,051.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,155,842.96. This trade represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Chris Kosel sold 509 shares of Lennox International stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $898,655.10. This trade 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LII has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $625.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Lennox International from $650.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $600.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. 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 report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Lennox International from $550.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lennox International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $626.50.

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.