Natixis Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC)

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in The Toro Company (NYSE:TTC) by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,588 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,702 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Toro were worth $1,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Toro Price Performance

Shares of TTC opened at $87.28 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The Toro Company has a 1-year low of $77.15 and a 1-year high of $102.00. The stock has a market cap of $8.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $83.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.94.

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

Toro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.