Toro (NYSE:TTC) Sees Large Volume Increase

The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 437,371 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the previous session’s volume of 720,369 shares.The stock last traded at $89.25 and had previously closed at $90.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on TTC shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of Toro from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Toro from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Toro from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.75.

Toro Stock Down 3.9 %

The firm has a market cap of $9.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.84 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $88.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Toro (NYSE:TTC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.02). Toro had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 26.66%. The company had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Toro Company will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Toro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. Toro’s payout ratio is 52.55%.

Insider Activity at Toro

In other news, VP Edric C. Funk sold 615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.57, for a total value of $55,085.55. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,958.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Toro news, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.75, for a total value of $460,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,933,276.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Edric C. Funk sold 615 shares of Toro stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.57, for a total value of $55,085.55. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,049 shares in the company, valued at $93,958.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toro

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Toro during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Toro by 135.9% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Toro by 1,204.8% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Toro during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Toro by 2,057.1% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 302 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Toro

The Toro Company designs, manufactures, markets, and sells professional turf maintenance equipment and services. It operates through two segments: Professional and Residential. The Professional segment offers turf and landscape equipment products, including sports fields and grounds mowing and maintenance equipment, golf course mowing and maintenance equipment, landscape contractor mowing equipment, landscape creation and renovation equipment, and other maintenance equipment; rental, specialty, and underground construction equipment, such as horizontal directional drills, walk and ride trenchers, stand-on skid steers, vacuum excavators, stump grinders, turf renovation products, asset locators, pipe rehabilitation solutions, materials handling equipment, and other after-market tools; and snow and ice management equipment, such as snowplows, as well as stand-on snow and ice removal equipment, such as snowplow, snow brush, and snow thrower attachments, salt and sand spreaders, and related parts and accessories for light and medium duty trucks, utility task vehicles, skid steers, and front-end loaders.