Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 27,500 Toll Brothers Inc. $TOL

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Toll Brothers during the first quarter, buying 27,500 shares worth about $3.75 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive: Toll Brothers has a Moderate Buy consensus, with several firms reiterating or initiating outperform/buy ratings and an average price target of $163.56.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.72 and revenue of $2.53 billion, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE:TOL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 27,500 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $3,753,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Toll Brothers by 65.5% during the 1st quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 187 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Toll Brothers during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Toll Brothers during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Toll Brothers in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Toll Brothers in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 91.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on TOL shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $158.00 price objective on shares of Toll Brothers in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Toll Brothers in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Toll Brothers from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Toll Brothers in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Toll Brothers from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $158.00 to $161.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Toll Brothers has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $163.56.

Insider Activity at Toll Brothers

In other Toll Brothers news, COO Robert Parahus sold 7,500 shares of Toll Brothers stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.66, for a total transaction of $1,122,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 23,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,510,574.62. The trade was a 24.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Stephen F. East sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.70, for a total value of $139,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,877,847.40. This represents a 6.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 86,457 shares of company stock valued at $13,468,657 over the last quarter. 1.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Toll Brothers Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:TOL opened at $164.05 on Friday. Toll Brothers Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.10 and a fifty-two week high of $168.36. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $142.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $15.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.36.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The construction company reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.58 by $0.14. Toll Brothers had a net margin of 11.66% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.50 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Toll Brothers Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Toll Brothers Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 24th. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Toll Brothers's payout ratio is presently 7.87%.

Toll Brothers Profile

Toll Brothers, Inc is a publicly traded homebuilding company that focuses on designing and constructing luxury residential properties. The company's core business encompasses a broad range of housing products, including custom single-family homes, upscale condominium communities and rental apartment ventures. Toll Brothers emphasizes high-end finishes and architectural craftsmanship, positioning itself in the premium segment of the U.S. housing market.

In addition to traditional homebuilding, Toll Brothers operates specialized divisions to address evolving consumer preferences.

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