New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Holdings in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its position in shares of Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,613 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.15% of Lennox International worth $32,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Lennox International during the third quarter worth about $27,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lennox International during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Lennox International by 47.9% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 71 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Lennox International during the third quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennox International during the third quarter worth about $124,000. 67.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lennox International Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of LII stock opened at $641.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Lennox International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $444.46 and a fifty-two week high of $682.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $624.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $611.80.

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

Lennox International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Lennox International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LII. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Lennox International from $674.00 to $665.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Lennox International from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Lennox International from $617.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho cut shares of 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Lennox International in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $595.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $606.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sherry Buck sold 500 shares of Lennox International stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $660.74, for a total transaction of $330,370.00. Following the sale, 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 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 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.