Nicholas Company Inc. Reduces Holdings in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII)

Nicholas Company Inc. lessened its position in shares of Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) by 67.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,861 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 20,359 shares during the period. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in Lennox International were worth $6,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Lennox International during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lennox International during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of Lennox International by 47.9% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 71 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Lennox International by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 117 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Lennox International during the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Lennox International

In other Lennox International news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.20, for a total value of $124,974.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $825,864.40. This trade represents a 13.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lennox International Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of LII stock opened at $576.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.50 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.13. Lennox International Inc. has a 1-year low of $445.63 and a 1-year high of $682.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $613.15 and a 200 day moving average of $614.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $1.48. Lennox International had a return on equity of 126.79% and a net margin of 15.11%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lennox International Inc. will post 22.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on LII shares. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Lennox International in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho lowered 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $580.00 target price (down from $630.00) on shares of Lennox International in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Lennox International from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on Lennox International in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “sell” rating and a $475.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $614.62.

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.