Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Takes Position in Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC)

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. has acquired 98,937 shares of Toro Company, valued at approximately $7.2 million, representing about 0.10% of the company's stock.
• Several large investors, including Kayne Anderson Rudnick and Boston Trust Walden Corp, have significantly increased their stakes in Toro, contributing to 87.95% of the stock being owned by institutional investors.
• Toro recently announced a $0.38 quarterly dividend, yielding 2.1%, and reported earnings of $1.42 EPS for the last quarter, slightly exceeding analyst expectations.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 98,937 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,198,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.10% of Toro at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Kurt D. Svendsen sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.99, for a total value of $425,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $826,749.54. This represents a 34.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,038 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.81, for a total value of $356,740.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 34,062 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,411,930.22. This represents a 12.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Toro Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of TTC stock traded down $0.89 during trading on Thursday, hitting $73.45. 232,164 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 969,597. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $72.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.27. Toro Company has a 52-week low of $62.34 and a 52-week high of $93.00.

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

Toro Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on TTC. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Toro from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Northland Capmk downgraded Toro from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Northland Securities reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (down from $100.00) on shares of Toro in a research note on Friday, June 6th. DA Davidson set a $76.00 price target on Toro and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on Toro from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Toro has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $82.75.

Toro 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.