Eagle Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII - Free Report) by 7.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,673 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Lennox International were worth $9,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Lennox International during the first quarter valued at approximately $15,416,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Lennox International by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 55,113 shares of the construction company's stock worth $33,304,000 after purchasing an additional 2,013 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lennox International during the 2nd quarter valued at about $491,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Lennox International by 7.3% during the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 83,311 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $44,570,000 after buying an additional 5,673 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its stake in Lennox International by 2.3% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 51,263 shares of the construction company's stock worth $30,978,000 after buying an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on LII shares. Mizuho upped their price target on Lennox International from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lennox International from $570.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $648.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Lennox International from $575.00 to $624.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, KeyCorp cut Lennox International from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $575.54.

Lennox International Price Performance

Lennox International stock traded up $7.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $657.69. 236,868 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 233,782. Lennox International Inc. has a 12-month low of $397.34 and a 12-month high of $658.69. The company has a market cap of $23.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.23, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $611.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $565.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The construction company reported $6.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.95 by $0.73. Lennox International had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 148.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.37 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Lennox International Inc. will post 21.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennox International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Lennox International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Shane D. Wall sold 325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.97, for a total value of $199,215.25. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,247,393.95. This represents a 13.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Chris Kosel sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $625.49, for a total value of $125,098.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $904,458.54. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,480 shares of company stock valued at $3,823,519. Company insiders own 10.40% of the company's stock.

Lennox International 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.