Toast (NYSE:TOST) Upgraded to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Toast (NYSE:TOST) has been upgraded from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating by analysts at Wall Street Zen, reflecting a positive outlook on the stock.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a 24.8% year-over-year revenue increase despite missing earnings per share estimates, indicating robust growth potential.
• Investment analysts have rated Toast with an average of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.54, suggesting favorable sentiment among investors.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Toast (NYSE:TOST - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Toast from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Toast from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Toast from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Toast from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Toast from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.54.

Toast Stock Performance

Shares of TOST stock traded down $2.48 on Friday, hitting $43.13. The stock had a trading volume of 9,038,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,463,826. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 123.09 and a beta of 2.01. The stock's 50 day moving average is $44.68 and its 200-day moving average is $39.98. Toast has a 52-week low of $22.91 and a 52-week high of $49.66.

Toast (NYSE:TOST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.52 billion. Toast had a net margin of 4.07% and a return on equity of 14.19%. Toast's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.02 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Toast will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Toast

In other news, Director Paul D. Bell sold 11,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.13, for a total transaction of $496,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 229,680 shares in the company, valued at $10,365,458.40. The trade was a 4.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Brian R. Elworthy sold 300,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.60, for a total value of $12,780,000.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 216,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,208,245.60. This represents a 58.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 474,054 shares of company stock valued at $20,432,166. 12.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toast

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TOST. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Toast by 77.8% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 135,365 shares of the company's stock worth $4,934,000 after buying an additional 59,231 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Toast by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 73,931 shares of the company's stock worth $2,672,000 after buying an additional 2,405 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in Toast during the fourth quarter worth $8,584,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in Toast in the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Toast in the fourth quarter worth $21,465,000. Institutional investors own 82.91% of the company's stock.

About Toast

Toast, Inc operates a cloud-based digital technology platform for the restaurant industry in the United States, Ireland, and India. The company offers software products for restaurant operations and point of sale, such as Toast POS, Toast now, multi-location management, kitchen display system, Toast mobile order and pay, Toast catering and events, Toast invoicing, Toast tables, and restaurant retail; and hardware products, including Toast flex, Toast flex for guest, Toast go 2, Toast tap, kiosks, and Delphi by Toast.