Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC) Shares Acquired by Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Toro Company by 128.3% in the first quarter, now owning 11,301 shares valued at approximately $820,000.
• Toro's quarterly earnings beat analyst expectations with $1.42 EPS, and the company reported revenue of $1.32 billion despite a year-over-year decline of 2.3%.
• The company's recent dividend of $0.38 per share represents an annualized yield of 2.1%, with a payout ratio of 38.97%.

Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its position in Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC - Free Report) by 128.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,301 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,350 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc.'s holdings in Toro were worth $820,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Toro by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 30,998 shares of the company's stock worth $2,483,000 after buying an additional 2,813 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Toro by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 57,435 shares of the company's stock worth $4,601,000 after buying an additional 14,433 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Toro during the fourth quarter worth about $12,379,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of Toro by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 72,945 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,843,000 after purchasing an additional 5,429 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Toro in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,421,000. 87.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Toro

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 owned 11,646 shares in the company, valued at $826,749.54. This represents a 34.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,038 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.81, for a total transaction of $356,740.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 34,062 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,411,930.22. This trade 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 corporate insiders.

Toro Stock Down 0.3%

TTC stock traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.34. 462,537 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 972,900. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.81. Toro Company has a 1-year low of $62.34 and a 1-year high of $93.00. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $72.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.27. The company has a market cap of $7.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.06 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Toro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Toro's dividend payout ratio is 38.97%.

About Toro

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.