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

The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 1,176 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,709% compared to the typical daily volume of 65 put options.

Toro Price Performance

NYSE TTC opened at $87.03 on Thursday. Toro has a twelve month low of $77.15 and a twelve month high of $102.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a PE ratio of 34.29 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Toro (NYSE:TTC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Toro had a return on equity of 25.94% and a net margin of 8.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Toro will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

Toro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Toro’s dividend payout ratio is 56.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Toro from $102.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Toro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Toro in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Toro from $103.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Toro has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toro

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Toro by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 72,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,979,000 after acquiring an additional 12,602 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Toro by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 64,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,166,000 after purchasing an additional 3,697 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Toro by 76.6% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Toro by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 46,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,432,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Toro by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 154,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,866,000 after buying an additional 1,966 shares during the last quarter. 87.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.