New York State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Position in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,343 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,920 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Lennox International were worth $19,097,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Lennox International by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 571,095 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $345,645,000 after buying an additional 12,183 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Lennox International by 3.8% during the 3rd 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. National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Lennox International by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 51,263 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Lennox International by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,261 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $14,056,000 after purchasing an additional 4,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its position in shares of Lennox International by 469.6% during the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 21,053 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,895,000 after purchasing an additional 17,357 shares during the last quarter. 67.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lennox International Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE LII opened at $622.56 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $22.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $625.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $610.22. Lennox International Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.74 and a 52 week high of $682.50.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.12 by $1.48. Lennox International had a return on equity of 126.79% and a net margin of 15.11%. Research analysts anticipate that Lennox International Inc. will post 22.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lennox International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Lennox International’s dividend payout ratio is 20.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Lennox International from $674.00 to $665.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Lennox International from $648.00 to $656.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Northcoast Research started coverage on Lennox International in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “sell” rating and a $475.00 price target for the company. Mizuho downgraded Lennox International from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $675.00 to $625.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Lennox International in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $595.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lennox International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $606.00.

Insider Activity at Lennox International

In other Lennox International news, Director Sherry Buck sold 500 shares of Lennox International stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $660.74, for a total value of $330,370.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,118,632.82. The trade was a 22.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.