Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC) Stake Lessened by Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.

Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. cut its position in Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 206,412 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,744 shares during the quarter. Toro comprises about 3.1% of Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. owned about 0.21% of Toro worth $15,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Toro by 45.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,199,920 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Toro during the fourth quarter worth about $36,561,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in Toro by 133.3% during the first quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 779,419 shares of the company's stock worth $56,703,000 after buying an additional 445,287 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Toro by 411.3% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 464,609 shares of the company's stock worth $37,215,000 after buying an additional 373,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Toro by 36.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,081,782 shares of the company's stock worth $86,651,000 after buying an additional 291,593 shares in the last quarter. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Toro Trading Down 1.1%

TTC traded down $0.85 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $75.09. 662,797 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 925,857. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $73.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Toro Company has a 52 week low of $62.34 and a 52 week high of $100.93.

Toro (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. Toro's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Toro Company will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. Toro's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.97%.

Insider Activity at Toro

In related news, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,038 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 34,062 shares in the company, valued at $2,411,930.22. This represents a 12.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Kurt D. Svendsen sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 34.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on TTC shares. Wall Street Zen cut Toro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Northland Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (down from $100.00) on shares of Toro in a report on Friday, June 6th. DA Davidson set a $76.00 price objective on Toro and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Northland Capmk cut Toro from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Toro from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $82.75.

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.