Toro Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:TTC)

The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 1,176 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,709% compared to the average volume of 65 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TTC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Toro from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Toro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Toro from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 6th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $80.00 price target (down previously from $100.00) on shares of Toro in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $76.00 price target on shares of Toro and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $82.75.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $70.81, for a total value of $356,740.78. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,062 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,411,930.22. This trade represents a 12.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.39% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toro

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Toro by 32.1% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,247 shares of the company's stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Toro by 5.8% in the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,186 shares of the company's stock worth $1,905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in Toro by 6.0% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 21,279 shares of the company's stock worth $1,548,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in Toro by 191.5% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 7,586 shares of the company's stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 4,984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Toro by 9.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 38,840 shares of the company's stock worth $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 3,464 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.95% of the company's stock.

Toro Price Performance

Shares of Toro stock traded down $2.48 on Friday, hitting $67.27. 1,006,896 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 935,481. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.81. Toro has a 52 week low of $62.34 and a 52 week high of $100.93. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.84.

Toro (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The company reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.35 billion. Toro had a net margin of 9.14% and a return on equity of 27.25%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. Research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Toro's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.97%.

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.