Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,330,000 shares, an increase of 16.7% from the November 15th total of 1,140,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 246,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.4 days. Currently, 4.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Lennox International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LII traded down $11.93 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $656.10. The company had a trading volume of 41,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 269,818. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $628.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $585.00. Lennox International has a one year low of $412.09 and a one year high of $682.50. The firm has a market cap of $23.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.72, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.08.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The construction company reported $6.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.95 by $0.73. Lennox International had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 148.52%. The business had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lennox International will post 21.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lennox International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lennox International’s payout ratio is 21.84%.

Insider Transactions at Lennox International

In other news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $625.49, for a total transaction of $125,098.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $904,458.54. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John D. Torres sold 581 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $620.98, for a total value of $360,789.38. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,898,734.64. This trade represents a 11.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,106 shares of company stock valued at $1,353,233. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Lennox International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Lennox International in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Lennox International during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in Lennox International by 47.9% in the 3rd 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. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Lennox International by 388.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 88 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LII shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Lennox International from $570.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Northcoast Research started coverage on Lennox International in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “sell” rating and a $475.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Lennox International from $604.00 to $619.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. KeyCorp cut Lennox International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Lennox International from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $579.38.

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.