Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 15,314 Shares of Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 280,593 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,314 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Snap-on were worth $81,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Snap-on by 3.1% in the third quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Renasant Bank grew its holdings in shares of Snap-on by 2.3% in the first quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 1,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Snap-on by 3.2% in the second quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in Snap-on by 1.0% in the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its holdings in Snap-on by 1.2% in the second quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 3,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $878,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.88% of the company’s stock.

Snap-on Stock Performance

Shares of Snap-on stock opened at $359.27 on Friday. 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 market capitalization of $18.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $301.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.97. Snap-on Incorporated has a 12 month low of $252.98 and a 12 month high of $360.41.

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

Snap-on declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, August 8th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Snap-on Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $2.14 dividend. This is a boost from Snap-on’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $8.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. Snap-on’s payout ratio is presently 38.29%.

Insider Activity at Snap-on

In related news, CFO Aldo John Pagliari sold 4,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.74, for a total transaction of $1,246,804.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 99,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,663,272.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Aldo John Pagliari sold 4,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.74, for a total transaction of $1,246,804.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 99,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,663,272.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP June C. Lemerand sold 1,186 shares of Snap-on stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.97, for a total transaction of $336,788.42. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $648,303.51. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,335 shares of company stock valued at $14,706,082 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SNA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Snap-on from $336.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barrington Research lifted their price target on shares of Snap-on from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Snap-on from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Snap-on from $324.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on 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 given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $345.40.

Snap-on 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.