Snap-on (NYSE:SNA) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Snap-on (NYSE:SNA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on SNA. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Snap-on from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Snap-on from $349.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Snap-on in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Longbow Research upgraded shares of Snap-on from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Snap-on presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $350.83.

Snap-on Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:SNA opened at $331.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average of $322.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $338.84. Snap-on has a 52-week low of $252.98 and a 52-week high of $373.90. The company has a quick ratio of 3.17, a current ratio of 4.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Snap-on (NYSE:SNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The company reported $4.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.81 by ($0.30). Snap-on had a net margin of 21.71% and a return on equity of 19.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Snap-on will post 19.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Snap-on Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $2.14 per share. This represents a $8.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. Snap-on’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Snap-on news, CFO Aldo John Pagliari sold 6,860 shares of Snap-on stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.05, for a total value of $2,325,883.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,096 shares in the company, valued at $36,310,898.80. The trade was a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nicholas T. Pinchuk sold 22,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.32, for a total value of $7,611,764.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 793,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $266,221,278.24. This trade represents a 2.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,113 shares of company stock valued at $11,752,590 over the last 90 days. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Snap-on

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Snap-on in the 4th quarter worth about $512,000. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Snap-on by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 102,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,962,000 after buying an additional 2,460 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. boosted its position in shares of Snap-on by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 9,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,000 after buying an additional 1,445 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in Snap-on in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,936,000. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in Snap-on by 45.8% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 5,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,005,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856 shares during the period. 84.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.