Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Acquires New Stake in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI bought a new position in shares of The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 24,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,304,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TTC. Durable Capital Partners LP bought a new position in Toro during the first quarter worth $150,798,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Toro by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,067,162 shares of the company's stock worth $573,603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,233 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Toro in the fourth quarter worth $118,097,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Toro by 9.7% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,234,812 shares of the company's stock worth $1,137,702,000 after purchasing an additional 903,088 shares during the period. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Toro by 25.0% in the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,180,246 shares of the company's stock worth $347,378,000 after purchasing an additional 835,637 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.95% of the company's stock.

Toro Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TTC traded down $1.95 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $86.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 717,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 732,758. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $92.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.45. The Toro Company has a one year low of $78.35 and a one year high of $111.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15 and a beta of 0.72.

Toro (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). Toro had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 26.66%. The business had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Toro Company will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Toro Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Toro's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.55%.

Insider Activity at Toro

In related news, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,192 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.75, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Toro news, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,192 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,933,276.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Edric C. Funk sold 615 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.57, for a total transaction of $55,085.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $93,958.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on TTC shares. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Toro from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Toro from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Toro from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Toro from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Toro has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $105.60.

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.