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

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA - Free Report) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 66,438 shares of the company's stock after purchasing 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 quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Snap-on in the 1st quarter worth about $627,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Snap-on by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 9,795 shares of the company's stock worth $2,901,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Snap-on by 492.6% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 3,787 shares of the company's stock worth $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 3,148 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new position in Snap-on in the first quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in Snap-on by 90.3% during the first quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 2,697 shares of the company's stock valued at $799,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SNA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Snap-on from $290.00 to $347.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. 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 research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America upped their target price on Snap-on from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barrington Research raised 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, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Snap-on from $336.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $345.40.

Snap-on Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of SNA stock traded up $1.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $356.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 88,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 308,324. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 3.14 and a current ratio of 4.18. Snap-on Incorporated has a 52-week low of $252.98 and a 52-week high of $365.35. The stock has a market cap of $18.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.26, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $312.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $286.42.

Snap-on (NYSE:SNA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $4.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.58 by $0.12. Snap-on had a return on equity of 19.44% and a net margin of 22.13%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.16 billion. Research analysts predict that Snap-on Incorporated will post 19.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Snap-on Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $2.14 dividend. This represents a $8.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. This is a positive change from Snap-on's previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Snap-on's dividend payout ratio is 38.29%.

Snap-on announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, August 8th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Snap-on news, SVP Thomas J. Ward sold 12,737 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 55,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,460,167.21. This represents a 18.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Aldo John Pagliari sold 4,473 shares of Snap-on stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.74, for a total value of $1,246,804.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,663,272.56. The trade was a 4.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 26,190 shares of company stock valued at $8,212,284. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Snap-on

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.