Kensington Investment Counsel LLC Boosts Position in Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA)

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 20,294 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 709 shares during the quarter. Snap-on makes up about 2.9% of Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Snap-on were worth $6,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SNA. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Snap-on by 1.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 15,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,472,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Snap-on by 1.9% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 1,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Snap-on by 6.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,694,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Snap-on by 4.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 66,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,248,000 after purchasing an additional 2,794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Snap-on by 2.6% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 3,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $972,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 84.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Snap-on from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Snap-on in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $346.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jesus Arregui sold 6,451 shares of Snap-on stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.81, for a total value of $2,179,212.31. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,817.17. This trade represents a 96.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Aldo John Pagliari sold 6,909 shares of Snap-on stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $347.62, for a total value of $2,401,706.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 100,668 shares in the company, valued at $34,994,210.16. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,220 shares of company stock worth $6,906,802. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Snap-on Price Performance

Shares of Snap-on stock opened at $329.04 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.15, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $341.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $330.42. Snap-on Incorporated has a 52 week low of $252.98 and a 52 week high of $373.90. The stock has a market cap of $17.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Snap-on (NYSE:SNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $4.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.78 by $0.04. Snap-on had a net margin of 21.71% and a return on equity of 19.20%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Snap-on Incorporated will post 19.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Snap-on Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $2.14 dividend. This represents a $8.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Snap-on’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.90%.

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.