UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Lennox International (NYSE:LII) Stock

Lennox International (NYSE:LII - Free Report) had its price target increased by UBS Group from $575.00 to $625.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the construction company's stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on LII. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of Lennox International in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a "sell" rating and a $475.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lennox International from $624.00 to $674.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Lennox International from $570.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Lennox International from $648.00 to $656.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded Lennox International from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $590.15.

Lennox International Price Performance

Shares of Lennox International stock traded up $8.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $612.71. 266,331 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 255,266. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $633.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $594.40. The stock has a market cap of $21.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.08. Lennox International has a 12 month low of $412.09 and a 12 month high of $682.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.39.

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

Lennox International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lennox International's payout ratio is presently 21.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sherry Buck sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $660.74, for a total value of $330,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at $1,118,632.82. This represents a 22.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Torres sold 581 shares of Lennox International stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $620.98, for a total transaction of $360,789.38. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,106 shares of company stock worth $1,353,233 in the last quarter. Insiders own 10.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Lennox International

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lennox International during the 2nd quarter valued at $11,115,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lennox International by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 571,095 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $345,645,000 after purchasing an additional 12,183 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in Lennox International by 1,065.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 7,012 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Lennox International by 7.3% in the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 83,311 shares of the construction company's stock worth $44,570,000 after purchasing an additional 5,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Lennox International by 26.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,261 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $14,056,000 after purchasing an additional 4,927 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.07% of the company's stock.

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.