Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Toro (NYSE:TTC)

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

Toro Stock Down 0.1 %

TTC opened at $80.99 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.44. 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 has a one year low of $77.15 and a one year high of $102.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.01 and a beta of 0.68.

Toro (NYSE:TTC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.05). The company 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 business’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. 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 was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Toro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toro

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TTC. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Toro by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Toro by 350.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 979 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in Toro by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 25,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,349,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Accel Wealth Management lifted its stake in Toro by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 2,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in Toro by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 152,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,990,000 after buying an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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