Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $101.74 Million Stock Position in Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 299,674 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,081 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Snap-on were worth $101,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Snap-on by 2,691.2% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 158,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,810,000 after buying an additional 152,428 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Snap-on by 34,381.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 130,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,760,000 after buying an additional 129,960 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted 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 valued at $384,813,000 after buying an additional 127,859 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of Snap-on by 45.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 257,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,586,000 after buying an additional 80,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Snap-on by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 907,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,957,000 after buying an additional 78,184 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.88% of the company’s stock.

Snap-on Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Snap-on stock opened at $342.42 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $345.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $322.05. Snap-on Incorporated has a 1 year low of $252.98 and a 1 year high of $373.89. The company has a market capitalization of $17.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 4.15 and a quick ratio of 3.14.

Snap-on (NYSE:SNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $4.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.78 by $0.04. Snap-on had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 21.71%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.75 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Snap-on Incorporated will post 20.07 EPS for the current year.

Snap-on Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $2.14 per share. This represents a $8.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. Snap-on’s payout ratio is 43.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Snap-on news, VP June C. Lemerand sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $362.86, for a total transaction of $1,270,010.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,289 shares in the company, valued at $830,586.54. This trade represents a 60.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nicholas T. Pinchuk sold 21,783 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.83, for a total value of $7,729,261.89. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 769,738 shares in the company, valued at $273,126,134.54. The trade was a 2.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,643 shares of company stock worth $13,580,191 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Snap-on from $336.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Snap-on from $324.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Snap-on in a report on Monday, February 10th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $345.40.

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.