Updating Snap-On Inc.

Article Excerpt

SNAP-ON INC. $150 (New York symbol SNA; ConservativeGrowth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 57.6 million; Market cap: $8.6 billion; Dividend yield: 1.9%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Av erage; www.snapon.com) makes tools for auto mechanics and sells them through a fleet of franchised vans that visit garages. It also makes specialized tools for mining companies, electrical power plants and other industrial customers. Snap-On has paid quarterly dividends continuously since 1939. With the December 2016 payment, the company increased its quarterly dividend by 16.4%, to $0.71 a share from $0.61. The new annual rate of $2.84 yields 1.9%. In the quarter ended July 1, 2017, sales of tools and related equipment rose 5.6%, to $921.4 million from $872.3 million a year earlier. Recent acquisitions contributed $38.4 million to sales in the latest quarter. Those figures exclude revenue from the company’s financial services division, which helps garages finance their equipment purchases. Revenue for that business jumped 12.1%, to $77.7 million from $69.3…