Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Position in Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,438 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,794 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.13% of Snap-on worth $19,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SNA. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Snap-on by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Snap-on by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,694,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Snap-on by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Snap-on by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 1,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in Snap-on by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.88% of the company’s stock.

Snap-on Stock Performance

NYSE:SNA opened at $354.74 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.18, a quick ratio of 3.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $312.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $286.42. Snap-on Incorporated has a twelve month low of $252.98 and a twelve month high of $365.35. The company has a market capitalization of $18.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.96.

Snap-on (NYSE:SNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $4.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.58 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Snap-on had a net margin of 22.13% and a return on equity of 19.44%. As a group, research analysts expect that Snap-on Incorporated will post 19.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Snap-on Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $2.14 dividend. This represents a $8.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. This is an increase from Snap-on’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Snap-on’s payout ratio is presently 38.29%.

Snap-on announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, August 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on SNA. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Snap-on from $324.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Snap-on from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Snap-on from $336.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barrington Research increased their price objective on shares of Snap-on from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Snap-on from $290.00 to $347.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $345.40.

Insider Activity at Snap-on

In other Snap-on news, SVP Thomas J. Ward sold 12,737 shares of Snap-on stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.21, for a total transaction of $4,244,095.77. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,460,167.21. The trade was a 18.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Richard Thomas Miller sold 1,750 shares of Snap-on stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.00, for a total transaction of $577,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,061,940. This trade represents a 35.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 26,190 shares of company stock worth $8,212,284. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Snap-on Company Profile

Snap-on Incorporated manufactures and markets tools, equipment, diagnostics, and repair information and systems solutions for professional users worldwide. It operates through Commercial & Industrial Group, Snap-on Tools Group, Repair Systems & Information Group, and Financial Services segments.