Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Toro Put Options (NYSE:TTC)

Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 1,176 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,709% compared to the typical volume of 65 put options.

Toro Stock Performance

TTC traded up $0.68 on Friday, hitting $75.36. 351,594 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 638,499. The firm has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.32 and a beta of 0.81. Toro has a twelve month low of $62.34 and a twelve month high of $98.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $73.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Toro (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. Toro had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 27.99%. Toro's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Toro will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Toro Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Toro news, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,038 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 34,062 shares of the company's stock, 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 the SEC website. Also, VP Kurt D. Svendsen sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president directly 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. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toro

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TTC. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Toro by 127.2% in the fourth 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 period. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in shares of Toro by 94.1% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 495 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Financial Harvest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Toro in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Toro by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 547 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Toro by 91.6% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 663 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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