Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Purchases New Stake in Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 38,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,232,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SNA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Snap-on by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,404,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,174,233,000 after acquiring an additional 19,328 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Snap-on by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,819,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,651,000 after buying an additional 411,317 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Snap-on by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,806,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,195,000 after buying an additional 77,486 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Snap-on by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,641,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,022,000 after acquiring an additional 27,700 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Snap-on by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,128,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $384,813,000 after acquiring an additional 127,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Snap-on

In other news, CFO Aldo John Pagliari sold 6,860 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,096 shares in the company, valued at $36,310,898.80. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jesus Arregui sold 6,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,011 shares of company stock worth $12,116,859. 3.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on SNA shares. Longbow Research upgraded shares of Snap-on from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Snap-on from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Snap-on from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Snap-on from $358.00 to $349.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Snap-on in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Snap-on presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $355.67.

Snap-on Price Performance

NYSE:SNA opened at $305.16 on Friday. Snap-on Incorporated 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. The firm has a market cap of $16.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $331.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $338.00.

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

Snap-on Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $2.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $8.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Snap-on’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.