Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,210,000 shares, a decrease of 20.8% from the November 15th total of 2,790,000 shares. Approximately 4.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 371,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Richard Thomas Miller sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.00, for a total transaction of $577,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,061,940. This represents a 35.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP June C. Lemerand sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $362.86, for a total value of $1,270,010.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $830,586.54. This represents a 60.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,814 shares of company stock worth $15,627,963 over the last 90 days. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SNA. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Snap-on during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Snap-on during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in Snap-on by 53.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Snap-on during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in Snap-on by 244.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.88% of the company’s stock.

Snap-on Stock Down 0.1 %

SNA stock traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $355.11. The stock had a trading volume of 263,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 348,941. The company has a current ratio of 4.18, a quick ratio of 3.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Snap-on has a 1-year low of $252.98 and a 1-year high of $373.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $340.72 and a 200 day moving average of $297.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Snap-on Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $2.14 per share. This is a positive change from Snap-on’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $8.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Snap-on’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.06%.

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.