Forsta AP Fonden Cuts Stock Position in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII)

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its position in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) by 54.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,700 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 9,100 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Lennox International were worth $4,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Lennox International Price Performance

LII stock opened at $591.45 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $639.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $607.36. The firm has a market cap of $21.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.11. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $412.09 and a 1 year high of $682.50.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $1.48. Lennox International had a return on equity of 142.64% and a net margin of 15.11%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lennox International Inc. will post 23.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Lennox International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LII has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Lennox International in a report on Monday, January 6th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $595.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Lennox International from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of Lennox International in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “sell” rating and a $475.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp lowered shares of Lennox International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Lennox International from $570.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $602.57.

Insider Transactions at Lennox International

In other news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 200 shares of Lennox International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $625.49, for a total value of $125,098.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $904,458.54. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sherry Buck sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $660.74, for a total value of $330,370.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at $1,118,632.82. This trade represents a 22.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,200 shares of company stock worth $793,228 over the last ninety days. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.