Aurora Investment Counsel Has $1.03 Million Stock Holdings in Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA)

Aurora Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,549 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in Snap-on were worth $1,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Snap-on in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,571,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Snap-on by 0.3% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 19,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,764,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Snap-on by 32.7% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,435,000 after acquiring an additional 3,238 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Snap-on in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,653,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Snap-on by 21.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 158,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,999,000 after purchasing an additional 28,049 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on SNA. Barrington Research upped their target price on Snap-on from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on 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 upped their target price on Snap-on from $324.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Snap-on from $336.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Snap-on from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Snap-on presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $345.40.

Insider Transactions at Snap-on

In other news, VP Iain Boyd sold 6,044 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.99, for a total transaction of $1,807,095.56. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,137,302.07. This represents a 36.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP June C. Lemerand sold 1,186 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.97, for a total value of $336,788.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $648,303.51. This represents a 34.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,717 shares of company stock worth $6,965,480. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Snap-on Stock Performance

Snap-on stock opened at $357.85 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 4.18 and a quick ratio of 3.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $314.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $286.92. Snap-on Incorporated has a 52-week low of $252.98 and a 52-week high of $365.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.96.

Snap-on (NYSE:SNA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Snap-on Incorporated will post 19.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Snap-on Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $2.14 per share. This represents a $8.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Snap-on’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. Snap-on’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.29%.

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

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.