Short Interest in Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) Grows By 16.7%

Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,330,000 shares, a growth of 16.7% from the November 15th total of 1,140,000 shares. Approximately 4.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 246,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LII has been the subject of several recent research reports. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of Lennox International in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “sell” rating and a $475.00 target price for the company. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Lennox International from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $648.00 to $656.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $604.00 to $619.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Lennox International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lennox International presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $579.38.

Lennox International Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE LII traded down $9.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $658.75. 26,154 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 269,761. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $628.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $585.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.72, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.39. Lennox International has a twelve month low of $412.09 and a twelve month high of $682.50.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The construction company reported $6.68 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lennox International will post 21.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennox International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Lennox International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.84%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John D. Torres sold 581 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $620.98, for a total value of $360,789.38. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,898,734.64. This represents a 11.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $904,458.54. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,106 shares of company stock worth $1,353,233. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennox International

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LII. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Lennox International during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lennox International during the second quarter worth about $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lennox International during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Lennox International by 47.9% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 71 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Lennox International by 388.9% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 88 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. 67.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.