Sciencast Management LP Makes New $1.58 Million Investment in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII)

Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,596 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,582,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LII. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its holdings in Lennox International by 469.6% in the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 21,053 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $12,895,000 after purchasing an additional 17,357 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Lennox International by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 571,095 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $345,645,000 after purchasing an additional 12,183 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in Lennox International by 1,065.7% in 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 in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Lennox International by 26.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,261 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $14,056,000 after purchasing an additional 4,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP raised its holdings in Lennox International by 386.0% in the fourth quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 5,540 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,376,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lennox International news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 194 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,282 shares in the company, valued at $825,864.40. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Lennox International Stock Performance

NYSE:LII opened at $570.07 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $609.66 and its 200 day moving average is $614.98. Lennox International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $445.63 and a fifty-two week high of $682.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.29, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lennox International Inc. will post 22.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennox International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Lennox International’s payout ratio is 20.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LII has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho downgraded Lennox International from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $675.00 to $625.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on Lennox International from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Lennox International in a report on Monday, January 6th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $595.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and set a $580.00 price target (down from $630.00) on shares of Lennox International in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Lennox International in a report on Friday, March 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lennox International currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $614.62.

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.