Toro Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:TTC)

Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 1,176 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,709% compared to the typical volume of 65 put options.

Toro Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Toro stock opened at $71.01 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.86. The stock has a market cap of $7.01 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Toro has a 12 month low of $62.34 and a 12 month high of $100.93.

Toro (NYSE:TTC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The company reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.35 billion. Toro had a return on equity of 27.99% and a net margin of 8.77%. The company’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Toro will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TTC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Toro from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. DA Davidson set a $76.00 price target on Toro and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on Toro from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Toro from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 price target (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Toro in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,038 shares of Toro stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.81, for a total value of $356,740.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,411,930.22. The trade was a 12.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toro

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in Toro by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Toro by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Toro by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 44,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,591,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Toro by 195.7% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Toro by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 4,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 889 shares during the period. 87.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Toro Company Profile

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.