Lennox International (NYSE:LII) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Shares of Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $653.89 and last traded at $653.11, with a volume of 130665 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $625.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on LII. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Lennox International from $604.00 to $619.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Lennox International from $570.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of Lennox International in a report on Thursday, July 25th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Lennox International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Lennox International from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Lennox International currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $583.92.

Lennox International Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $608.16 and a 200-day moving average of $563.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $23.27 billion, a PE ratio of 29.69, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Lennox International Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Lennox International

In related news, EVP Prakash Bedapudi sold 5,374 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total transaction of $3,138,416.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,438,608. This trade represents a 24.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sherry Buck sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $583.47, for a total transaction of $291,735.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,279,549.71. This represents a 18.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,980 shares of company stock valued at $4,115,254. Company insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennox International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LII. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Lennox International during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $15,416,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lennox International during the second quarter valued at about $11,115,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Lennox International by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 571,095 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $345,645,000 after buying an additional 12,183 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in Lennox International by 1,065.7% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 7,670 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,635,000 after buying an additional 7,012 shares during the period. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its position in 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 valued at $44,570,000 after acquiring an additional 5,673 shares in the last quarter. 67.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.