ING Groep NV Makes New Investment in Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC)

Key Points

• ING Groep NV has acquired a new position in Toro Company, purchasing 15,700 shares valued at approximately $1,142,000 during the first quarter of the year.
• Several institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Toro, with True Wealth Design LLC reporting a 127.2% boost in holdings.
• Toro announced a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, representing a yield of 2.1%, and has a current dividend payout ratio of 38.97%.

ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in shares of Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,142,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Toro by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 7,031,295 shares of the company's stock valued at $563,207,000 after acquiring an additional 2,199,920 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Toro by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,100,503 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,152,000 after purchasing an additional 164,069 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Toro by 36.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,081,782 shares of the company's stock valued at $86,651,000 after purchasing an additional 291,593 shares during the last quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Toro by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 1,024,721 shares of the company's stock worth $82,080,000 after purchasing an additional 87,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in shares of Toro by 133.3% during the first quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 779,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,703,000 after buying an additional 445,287 shares during the last quarter. 87.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Toro Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TTC traded down $0.45 on Monday, hitting $73.32. 51,236 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 962,053. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.82 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Toro Company has a 1-year low of $62.34 and a 1-year high of $93.00. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $72.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.97.

Toro (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The company reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.02. Toro had a return on equity of 27.99% and a net margin of 8.77%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Toro Company will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Toro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Toro's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Kurt D. Svendsen sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.99, for a total transaction of $425,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 11,646 shares in the company, valued at $826,749.54. The trade was a 34.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,038 shares of the 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 sale, the director directly owned 34,062 shares in the company, valued at $2,411,930.22. This represents a 12.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TTC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Northland Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Toro in a research report on Friday, June 6th. DA Davidson set a $76.00 target price on shares of Toro and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on Toro from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Toro from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Northland Capmk lowered Toro from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $82.75.

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.