Traders Purchase Large Volume of Toro Put Options (NYSE:TTC)

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson set a $76.00 price objective on Toro and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Northland Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $80.00 target price (down from $100.00) on shares of Toro in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Northland Capmk downgraded Toro from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on Toro from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Toro from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Toro currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $82.75.

Insider Activity at Toro

In related news, Director Gary Lee Ellis sold 5,038 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.81, for a total value of $356,740.78. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,062 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available through this link. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toro

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Toro by 127.2% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 368 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in Toro by 94.1% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 495 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Financial Harvest LLC acquired a new stake in Toro during the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Toro by 30.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 547 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Toro by 195.7% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 547 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Toro Price Performance

Toro stock opened at $70.43 on Thursday. Toro has a 12 month low of $62.34 and a 12 month high of $100.93. 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 company has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a PE ratio of 18.06 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.97.

Toro (NYSE:TTC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 5th. The company reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.02. Toro had a return on equity of 27.99% and a net margin of 8.77%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Toro will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Toro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Toro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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