The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the five research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $105.60.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on TTC shares. StockNews.com cut Toro from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Toro from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. TheStreet raised Toro from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Toro from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st.

Toro Stock Performance

Toro stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $85.78. 779,118 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 715,710. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $91.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.31 and a beta of 0.72. Toro has a 1 year low of $78.35 and a 1 year high of $108.50.

Toro (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. Toro had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 26.66%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Toro will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. Toro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,192 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.75, for a total value of $460,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,051 shares in the company, valued at $2,933,276.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Edric C. Funk sold 615 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.57, for a total value of $55,085.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,049 shares in the company, valued at $93,958.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,192 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.75, for a total value of $460,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,933,276.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.62% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TTC. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Toro during the third quarter worth $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Toro by 135.9% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 302 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Toro during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Toro by 2,057.1% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 302 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new position in Toro during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.