Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE:TOL) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE:TOL - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $141.85.

TOL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $130.00 price target (down previously from $145.00) on shares of Toll Brothers in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Toll Brothers from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Toll Brothers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Toll Brothers in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Toll Brothers from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th.

Toll Brothers Price Performance

TOL stock traded down $4.12 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $122.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,726,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,690,153. The company has a market capitalization of $12.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $111.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.34. Toll Brothers has a 1-year low of $86.67 and a 1-year high of $169.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 4.21 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The construction company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Toll Brothers had a return on equity of 17.87% and a net margin of 12.95%. Toll Brothers's revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Toll Brothers will post 13.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Toll Brothers Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 11th. Toll Brothers's payout ratio is 7.42%.

Insider Activity at Toll Brothers

In other news, Director Christine Garvey sold 770 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.82, for a total value of $92,261.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,388,713.80. This represents a 6.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Grubb sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $60,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,439 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $292,680. The trade was a 17.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,770 shares of company stock valued at $440,586 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toll Brothers

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Toll Brothers by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,979 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,097,000 after purchasing an additional 4,335 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Toll Brothers in the fourth quarter worth about $3,111,000. TIAA Trust National Association grew its holdings in shares of Toll Brothers by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 54,406 shares of the construction company's stock worth $6,852,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the period. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new stake in shares of Toll Brothers during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,053,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in Toll Brothers by 53.7% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 29,009 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,654,000 after purchasing an additional 10,140 shares during the period. 91.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Toll Brothers

Toll Brothers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, builds, markets, sells, and arranges finance for a range of detached and attached homes in luxury residential communities in the United States. It designs, builds, markets, and sells condominiums through Toll Brothers City Living. The company also develops a range of single-story living and first-floor primary bedroom suite home designs, as well as communities with recreational amenities, such as golf courses, marinas, pool complexes, country clubs, and fitness and recreation centers; and develops, operates, and rents apartments.