Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Shares of Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE:TOL) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $122.05, but opened at $112.49. Toll Brothers shares last traded at $114.83, with a volume of 764,226 shares changing hands.

The construction company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Toll Brothers had a return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 14.48%.

Toll Brothers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Toll Brothers’s payout ratio is currently 6.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Toll Brothers from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Toll Brothers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Toll Brothers in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Toll Brothers from $155.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Toll Brothers from $192.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Toll Brothers

In other news, Director Christine Garvey sold 204 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.78, for a total value of $25,659.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,728 shares in the company, valued at $972,027.84. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paul E. Shapiro sold 3,837 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.14, for a total transaction of $514,695.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 119,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,088,349.18. This trade represents a 3.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,202 shares of company stock valued at $1,947,436 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toll Brothers

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in Toll Brothers by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,662,387 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $565,802,000 after purchasing an additional 42,871 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Toll Brothers by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,528,853 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $318,509,000 after purchasing an additional 410,394 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Toll Brothers by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,192,909 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $276,263,000 after purchasing an additional 35,001 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Toll Brothers by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,903,545 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $239,751,000 after purchasing an additional 236,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Toll Brothers by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,226,271 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $154,449,000 after purchasing an additional 341,980 shares during the last quarter. 91.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Toll Brothers Trading Down 5.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $11.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.64, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.76. The company’s 50-day moving average is $129.49 and its 200-day moving average is $141.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 4.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Toll Brothers Company Profile

Toll Brothers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, builds, markets, sells, and arranges finance for a range of detached and attached homes in luxury residential communities in the United States. It designs, builds, markets, and sells condominiums through Toll Brothers City Living. The company also develops a range of single-story living and first-floor primary bedroom suite home designs, as well as communities with recreational amenities, such as golf courses, marinas, pool complexes, country clubs, and fitness and recreation centers; and develops, operates, and rents apartments.