Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,070,000 shares, a decrease of 19.5% from the November 30th total of 1,330,000 shares. Currently, 3.3% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 371,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LII has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price target on Lennox International from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Lennox International from $648.00 to $656.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Lennox International from $624.00 to $674.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Lennox International from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of Lennox International in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a "sell" rating and a $475.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $579.38.

Lennox International Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE:LII traded down $9.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $620.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 216,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 300,605. Lennox International has a 52-week low of $412.09 and a 52-week high of $682.50. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $22.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $633.77 and a 200-day moving average of $592.75.

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

Lennox International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lennox International's payout ratio is 21.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennox International

In related news, EVP John D. Torres sold 581 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $620.98, for a total value of $360,789.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,898,734.64. This represents a 11.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Shane D. Wall sold 325 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.97, for a total value of $199,215.25. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,035 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,247,393.95. The trade was a 13.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,106 shares of company stock worth $1,353,233 in the last three months. 10.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennox International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LII. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Lennox International during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lennox International during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Lennox International by 47.9% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 71 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Lennox International by 388.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 88 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Lennox International during the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. 67.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.