Lennox International (NYSE:LII) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Shares of Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $662.59, but opened at $630.00. Lennox International shares last traded at $623.39, with a volume of 233,933 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LII has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Lennox International from $604.00 to $619.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Lennox International from $624.00 to $674.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Lennox International from $648.00 to $656.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Lennox International from $570.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded Lennox International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $590.50.

Lennox International Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $22.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $642.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $607.19.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $1.48. Lennox International had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 148.52%. As a group, analysts forecast that Lennox International Inc. will post 21.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennox International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Lennox International’s payout ratio is currently 21.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sherry Buck sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $660.74, for a total transaction of $330,370.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Chris Kosel sold 200 shares of the 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 directly owns 1,446 shares in the company, valued at $904,458.54. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,200 shares of company stock worth $793,228 over the last three months. 10.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lennox International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lennox International in the fourth quarter valued at $567,000. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of Lennox International by 27.0% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 3,960 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,393,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Lennox International by 3.8% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 55,113 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,304,000 after purchasing an additional 2,013 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lennox International by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 681 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in Lennox International by 2.3% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 51,263 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,978,000 after buying an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.