Toro Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:TTC)

Key Points

• Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) saw a significant increase in put options trading, with 1,176 put options purchased, marking a surge of 1,709% compared to typical volumes.
• Following its recent earnings report, Toro's stock is currently down 0.4% with an opening price of $79.18 and an average analysts' target price of $92.60.
• Several research firms have upgraded Toro's stock rating recently, with the current consensus ranging from $86.00 to $100.00 as target prices, indicating positive investor sentiment.

Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 1,176 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,709% compared to the average volume of 65 put options.

Toro Trading Down 2.3%

NYSE:TTC traded down $1.81 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $78.13. 1,254,458 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 917,091. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.68 and a beta of 0.80. Toro has a 52-week low of $62.34 and a 52-week high of $89.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.59.

Toro (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Toro had a net margin of 7.37% and a return on equity of 28.98%. Toro's revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. Toro has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.150-4.150 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Toro will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Toro

In other news, VP Kurt D. Svendsen sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.99, for a total value of $425,940.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,646 shares in the company, valued at $826,749.54. This represents a 34.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toro

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Toro by 597.6% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,095 shares of the company's stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 3,508 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Toro by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 112,835 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,975,000 after acquiring an additional 16,854 shares in the last quarter. Willis Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in shares of Toro by 93.9% during the 2nd quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 17,145 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,212,000 after acquiring an additional 8,302 shares in the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Toro during the 2nd quarter valued at $85,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Toro by 124.1% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,154 shares of the company's stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,962 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on TTC shares. Longbow Research upgraded shares of Toro from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on shares of Toro from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Toro from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Northland Securities raised their target price on shares of Toro from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Toro from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $92.60.

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.