Lennox International (NYSE:LII) Upgraded to "Overweight" at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Lennox International (NYSE:LII - Free Report) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $702.00 price objective on the construction company's stock, up from their previous price objective of $665.00.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on LII. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $580.00 target price (down previously from $630.00) on shares of Lennox International in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on Lennox International in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a "sell" rating and a $475.00 target price for the company. Mizuho lowered Lennox International from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $675.00 to $625.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on Lennox International from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Lennox International from $617.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $608.85.

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Lennox International Trading Down 0.2 %

LII traded down $1.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $601.04. 581,868 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 383,735. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $620.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $614.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Lennox International has a 52 week low of $445.63 and a 52 week high of $682.50.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $1.48. Lennox International had a return on equity of 126.79% and a net margin of 15.11%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lennox International will post 22.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennox International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Lennox International's dividend payout ratio is 20.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennox International

In other news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 194 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.20, for a total value of $124,974.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,282 shares in the company, valued at $825,864.40. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 10.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennox International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lennox International in the 4th quarter worth $567,000. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of Lennox International by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 3,960 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,393,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in 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. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Lennox International by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 681 shares of the construction company's stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in Lennox International by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 51,263 shares of the construction company's stock worth $30,978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares during the period. 67.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.