Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Toro Company (The) (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Hold" by the five brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $82.75.

A number of research firms have recently commented on TTC. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Toro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Northland Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $80.00 target price (down from $100.00) on shares of Toro in a research note on Friday, June 6th. DA Davidson set a $76.00 target price on shares of Toro and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Toro from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Northland Capmk cut shares of Toro from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th.

Toro Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE TTC traded down $0.85 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $75.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 662,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 927,156. Toro has a 1-year low of $62.34 and a 1-year high of $100.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.25 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $72.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.10.

Toro (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.02. Toro had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 27.99%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Toro will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Toro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,038 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.81, for a total transaction of $356,740.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 34,062 shares in the company, valued at $2,411,930.22. This trade represents a 12.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Kurt D. Svendsen sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $826,749.54. This represents a 34.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toro

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Toro by 127.2% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 368 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Toro by 94.1% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 495 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Financial Harvest LLC acquired a new position in Toro during the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Toro by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 547 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Toro by 91.6% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 663 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.95% of the company's stock.

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.