Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on TOL. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Toll Brothers from $140.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Argus increased their target price on shares of Toll Brothers from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Toll Brothers from $130.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Toll Brothers from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Toll Brothers from a sell rating to a neutral rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $144.67.

Toll Brothers Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TOL opened at $139.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $132.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.84. Toll Brothers has a 1-year low of $68.08 and a 1-year high of $149.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 4.52 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $14.08 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.67.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The construction company reported $3.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.71 billion. Toll Brothers had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.73 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Toll Brothers will post 13.31 EPS for the current year.

Toll Brothers Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 5th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Toll Brothers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Toll Brothers

In other news, CEO Douglas C. Jr. Yearley sold 87,584 shares of Toll Brothers stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.49, for a total value of $12,917,764.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 346,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,087,881.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Toll Brothers news, CEO Douglas C. Jr. Yearley sold 87,584 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.49, for a total value of $12,917,764.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 346,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,087,881.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Martin P. Connor sold 22,673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total transaction of $3,248,587.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,109,224.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toll Brothers

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Toll Brothers during the second quarter worth approximately $5,147,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Toll Brothers by 19.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,110,000 after purchasing an additional 4,336 shares during the period. Old North State Trust LLC increased its holdings in Toll Brothers by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Toll Brothers by 81.0% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 963,650 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $110,993,000 after purchasing an additional 431,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new position in Toll Brothers in the second quarter valued at about $921,000. 91.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Toll Brothers

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.