SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 11,668 Shares of Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII)

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its position in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) by 84.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,115 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 11,668 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Lennox International were worth $1,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Lennox International by 24.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 636 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Lennox International by 8.9% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 576 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in Lennox International in the first quarter worth $35,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lennox International during the first quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Lennox International by 6.4% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 67,372 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $37,784,000 after buying an additional 4,047 shares during the last quarter. 67.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lennox International Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE LII opened at $542.90 on Tuesday. Lennox International Inc. has a 12-month low of $500.10 and a 12-month high of $682.50. The stock has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a PE ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $561.29 and a 200 day moving average of $593.09.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.25 by $0.12. Lennox International had a net margin of 15.11% and a return on equity of 126.79%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.47 EPS. Lennox International’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lennox International Inc. will post 22.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennox International declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Lennox International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. This is a positive change from Lennox International’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Lennox International’s payout ratio is presently 23.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennox International

In other Lennox International news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 509 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $568.05, for a total value of $289,137.45. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,582 shares in the company, valued at $898,655.10. The trade was a 24.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 9.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LII shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Lennox International from $455.00 to $549.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Lennox International from $585.00 to $450.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Lennox International from $625.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Lennox International in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Lennox International from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $583.71.

Lennox International 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.