Citigroup Cuts Toast (NYSE:TOST) Price Target to $36.00

Key Points

• Citigroup cut Toast’s price target from $42 to $36, while keeping a buy rating. The new target still implies roughly 44% upside from the stock’s current price.
• Toast shares fell sharply on the news, dropping 15.2% to $24.92. The stock also traded near its 12-month low, reflecting recent weakness despite strong trading volume.
• Analysts remain generally positive overall, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $38.64. Toast also reported 22% revenue growth in its latest quarter, though earnings missed expectations.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at Citigroup from $42.00 to $36.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup's price target would indicate a potential upside of 44.45% from the company's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Truist Financial set a $36.00 price target on Toast in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Toast in a research report on Friday. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Toast from $57.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $45.00 price target on shares of Toast in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Toast from $47.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.64.

Toast Trading Down 15.2%

TOST traded down $4.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.92. The stock had a trading volume of 27,864,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,234,321. The firm has a market cap of $12.84 billion, a PE ratio of 46.24 and a beta of 1.81. Toast has a 12 month low of $24.04 and a 12 month high of $49.66. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.77.

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Toast

In other news, CEO Aman Narang sold 13,463 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total transaction of $352,595.97. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 54,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,414,600.47. This represents a 19.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CRO Jonathan Vassil sold 6,438 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total transaction of $168,611.22. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 146,618 shares in the company, valued at $3,839,925.42. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 39,783 shares of company stock valued at $1,041,917 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Toast

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TOST. Bayban bought a new stake in shares of Toast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in Toast in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new position in Toast in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Toast in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in Toast by 123.5% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 943 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. 82.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Toast

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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