Lennox International (NYSE:LII) Upgraded at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Lennox International (NYSE:LII) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $702.00 target price on the construction company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $665.00.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Northcoast Research began coverage on Lennox International in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “sell” rating and a $475.00 price target for the company. Mizuho cut Lennox International from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $675.00 to $625.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Lennox International from $617.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Lennox International in a report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $595.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Lennox International from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lennox International presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $608.85.

Lennox International Stock Performance

Shares of LII stock opened at $601.04 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $21.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $620.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $614.35. Lennox International has a 12-month low of $445.63 and a 12-month high of $682.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that Lennox International will post 22.94 EPS for the current year.

Lennox International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Lennox International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.41%.

Insider Transactions at Lennox International

In other news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.20, for a total value of $124,974.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $825,864.40. This represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Lennox International during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Lennox International during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in Lennox International by 47.9% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 71 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Lennox International by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 98 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Lennox International by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 117 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.07% of the company’s stock.

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.