AdvisorShares Investments LLC Takes Position in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

AdvisorShares Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $457,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Toro during the third quarter worth $592,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Toro by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,168 shares of the company's stock worth $882,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Toro by 79.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,646 shares of the company's stock worth $1,530,000 after buying an additional 7,798 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Toro by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 47,912 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,989,000 after acquiring an additional 10,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Toro during the 4th quarter valued at about $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.95% of the company's stock.

Toro Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of TTC stock traded up $1.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $70.71. 749,590 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 975,179. The stock has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The Toro Company has a fifty-two week low of $62.34 and a fifty-two week high of $100.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.95.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Toro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TTC has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Toro from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Northland Securities raised Toro from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Northland Capmk upgraded Toro from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Toro from $88.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Toro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Toro currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.75.

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.