BMO Capital Markets Upgrades Toast (NYSE:TOST) to Strong-Buy

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets upgraded Toast (TOST) to a "strong-buy"; the stock's consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $39.48 (1 Strong Buy, 16 Buy, 8 Hold).
• Toast reported quarterly EPS of $0.16 versus estimates of $0.24 (a miss) while revenue came in at $1.63B, up 22% year-over-year and with a net margin of 5.56%.
• Insiders including CEO Aman Narang and CFO Elena Gomez sold shares in early April; insiders have sold 46,030 shares (~$1.23M) in the last three months and now own 12.14% of the company.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $37.00 price objective on Toast in a research report on Friday, February 13th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Toast from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wolfe Research cut Toast from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Toast in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Toast from $48.00 to $39.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $39.48.

Toast Price Performance

Toast stock opened at $29.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.40 billion, a PE ratio of 54.42 and a beta of 1.90. Toast has a 12 month low of $24.35 and a 12 month high of $49.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.32.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.62 billion. Toast had a net margin of 5.56% and a return on equity of 18.14%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.05 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Toast will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Toast announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Aman Narang sold 13,463 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total transaction of $352,595.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 54,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,414,600.47. The trade was a 19.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elena Gomez sold 8,929 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total value of $233,850.51. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 173,064 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,532,546.16. The trade was a 4.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 46,030 shares of company stock valued at $1,231,451 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Toast

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bayban purchased a new stake in shares of Toast during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Toast in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Toast in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Toast in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Toast in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 82.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Toast Company Profile

Toast, Inc NYSE: TOST is a technology company that builds a cloud-based platform for restaurants and other foodservice businesses. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Toast offers integrated point-of-sale (POS) systems and a suite of software and hardware designed to streamline front-of-house and back-of-house operations. The company went public in 2021 and has positioned itself as a vertically integrated provider for the restaurant industry.

Toast's product portfolio includes touchscreen POS terminals and handheld order-and-pay devices, kitchen display systems, and peripherals tailored for high-volume foodservice environments.

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