Hartford Investment Management Co. Buys Shares of 1,981 Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII)

Hartford Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,981 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,207,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lennox International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $567,000. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of Lennox International by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 3,960 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,393,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Lennox International by 3.8% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 55,113 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $33,304,000 after acquiring an additional 2,013 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Lennox International by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 681 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Lennox International by 2.3% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 51,263 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,978,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140 shares during the period. 67.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lennox International

In other news, Director Sherry Buck sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,118,632.82. This represents a 22.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Lennox International Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of LII opened at $622.56 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $625.87 and its 200 day moving average is $609.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Lennox International Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.74 and a 12-month high of $682.50. The company has a market capitalization of $22.15 billion, a PE ratio of 27.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.10.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII) last released 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 net margin of 15.11% and a return on equity of 126.79%. Research analysts expect that Lennox International Inc. will post 22.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennox International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Lennox International’s payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Lennox International from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Lennox International in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $595.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $580.00 price objective (down previously from $630.00) on shares of Lennox International in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Lennox International from $536.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Northcoast Research assumed coverage on Lennox International in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “sell” rating and a $475.00 price target for the company. 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 MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $606.00.

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.