Vestcor Inc Buys 4,981 Shares of Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc increased its stake in Toro Company by 237.5% in the first quarter, now holding 7,078 shares valued at $515,000.
• Analysts have recently adjusted their price targets for Toro, with a consensus target of $82.75 and most rating the stock as a hold.
• Toro Company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.0% and a payout ratio of 38.97%.

Vestcor Inc raised its holdings in Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC - Free Report) by 237.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,078 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 4,981 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Toro were worth $515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Toro by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 547 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Toro by 1.2% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 14,199 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in Toro by 127.2% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 368 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Toro by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,396 shares of the company's stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Toro by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,287 shares of the company's stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. 87.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Toro Price Performance

Shares of TTC traded down $0.94 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $73.40. The stock had a trading volume of 199,031 shares, compared to its average volume of 969,430. 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 company has a market capitalization of $7.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.82 and a beta of 0.80. The firm's 50 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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. Toro had a return on equity of 27.99% and a net margin of 8.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Toro Company will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Toro Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Toro

In other news, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,038 shares of the business'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 transaction of $356,740.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 34,062 shares in the company, valued at $2,411,930.22. The trade was a 12.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Kurt D. Svendsen sold 6,000 shares of Toro stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president owned 11,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $826,749.54. The trade was a 34.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TTC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Northland Securities restated a "market perform" rating and set a $80.00 price target (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Toro in a report on Friday, June 6th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Toro from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Toro from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. DA Davidson set a $76.00 price target on Toro and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Northland Capmk downgraded Toro from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.