Toro Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:TTC)

The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 1,176 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,709% compared to the average daily volume of 65 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toro

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Toro by 112.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Toro by 850.0% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Toro by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 908 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in Toro in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $94,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in Toro by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on TTC shares. DA Davidson cut their target price on Toro from $103.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Toro in a research report on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Toro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Toro from $102.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.33.

Toro Price Performance

NYSE TTC opened at $87.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Toro has a 1-year low of $77.15 and a 1-year high of $102.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.03 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $84.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.86.

Toro Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. This is a boost from Toro’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.90%.

Toro declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase 4,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.